Guitarists and lyrics

Shadow

Deluxe Edition
Staff member
So I had a thought (no, please, don't close the tab just yet). We all know Bruce and Steve write lyrics, but how much do the three amigos contribute? I assume Adrian writes lyrics, to some extent, as there have been songs credited solely to him, but what about Janick and Dave? I would be interested in any info on this subject from interviews and the likes.
 
Don't forget about Nicko! :P He actually did write some of the lyrics to New Frontier, and Bruce "helped him out with some of them", if I recall correctly from some DOD-era interview.
 
I know that, but Nicko only has that one songwriting credit. Dave and Janick are always credited with either Bruce or Steve (or Blaze), so I'm wondering if they've ever written lyrics.
 
From what I can gather, it doesn't seem like Janick writes very many lyrics. On BNW, Bruce has talked about writing all the lyrics to Ghost of the Navigator and Out of the Silent Planet, whereas both of the other tracks written by Janick are credited as Gers/Harris. On D0D, Bruce wrote the lyrics for Montsegur, Steve for DoD, and I'm assuming they both wrote them for Gates of Tomorrow. A case might be made for Jan contributing lyrics to his two songs on AMOLAD, Pilgrim and Legacy, but they are again Gers/Harris tracks, so it can be reasonably assumed Steve did most of the lyric writing. TFF = Alchemist is clearly a Bruce lyric, and The Talisman could be both Steve and Janick. Same goes for the new album, in which all of his songs are Gers/Harris. Having watched the documentaries, it seems like Janick goes in with mostly fully-formed songs and then Steve arranges them a bit more and writes lyrics on top of them.

Adrian definitely writes lyrics from time to time, but not always. It seems like he's been writing less lyrics over the years, relying on Bruce and Steve to help out with the words so he can focus on the music, but there's really no way to tell. Generally, if a track is credited as Smith/Dickinson, it means Adrian wrote the music and Bruce wrote the lyrics.

Dave is often more obvious. I'm sorry to say, but he clearly writes lyrics because they are most often the most simplistic, occasionally sophomoric lyrics on an album. The Man Who Would Be King being a prime example, he writes lyrics the way Steve writes lyrics when he gets in a rut: come up with something that fits in a pre-conceived melody, whether it works or not (i.e. throwing in as many "justs" into as possible or using the same word to end two lines in a row).
 
From what I know (interview from last Issue of "Teraz Rock") Dave never did any lyrics.

Well, he definitely wrote the lyrics for Charlotte the Harlot. But if that's otherwise true, than Steve thinks very little of Dave's songs as his lyrics for them are generally his absolute worst efforts.
 
Q: And since we're talking about the literary side of your work - tell me if Charlotte the Harlot of the first album is the only text that you wrote for Iron Maiden?
A: Honestly? It was not my text. One of the colleagues, I do not remember who. We had the text that matched my music, we used it. I know it has been described as my work, but no - it is not me who wrote it. Basically songwriters are Bruce and Steve. It's beacuse of them we have strength also in terms of literature. And who wrote Charlotte the Harlot? Bruce wasn't then in the band ... I do not remember.

It's not best translation but you got the picture.
 
I remember reading somewhere that Janick had a hand in writing the lyrics to The Pilgrim.
 
Q: And since we're talking about the literary side of your work - tell me if Charlotte the Harlot of the first album is the only text that you wrote for Iron Maiden?
A: Honestly? It was not my text. One of the colleagues, I do not remember who. We had the text that matched my music, we used it. I know it has been described as my work, but no - it is not me who wrote it. Basically songwriters are Bruce and Steve. It's beacuse of them we have strength also in terms of literature. And who wrote Charlotte the Harlot? Bruce wasn't then in the band ... I do not remember.

It's not best translation but you got the picture.

Well...huh.

I wouldn't throw Breeg into that category, though.

Agreed, Breeg is one of the stronger ones lyrically.


I remember reading somewhere that Janick had a hand in writing the lyrics to The Pilgrim.

Yeah, I think he had in writing lyrics for The Legacy as well, but it doesn't seem like he's normally a lyric writer.
 
From what I know (interview from last Issue of "Teraz Rock") Dave never did any lyrics.
What about "Charlotte the Harlot" then? Or is it another case of nicking the lyrics from a singer that is not in the band anymore (cf "Strange World", whose lyrics were allegedly penned by Paul Day, according to himself on his FB page)?

EDIT I have just seen Meliegree's post - and I'm not surprised by Dave's quotation. ;)
 
I remember reading somewhere that Janick had a hand in writing the lyrics to The Pilgrim.

Wiki back then they had AMOLAD's music credits and lyric credits seperated and Janick was credited for The Pilgrim's lyrics. I'm not sure what their source was in this particular case, but Wikipedia usually gets songwriting credits bang on.
 
Just reading those lyrics they have a lot of British Lion-esque stuff in there, but of course it is worlds apart from anything done by them in the actual delivery. "The Man of Sorrows" is definitely Steve's lyrics, that's what I wanted to say.

Yeah, I think he had in writing lyrics for The Legacy as well, but it doesn't seem like he's normally a lyric writer.

I think the difference is that Janick has a very clear idea of what his songs are about when he brings them to Steve to write the lyrics. He didn't write the lyrics for the "The Legacy" but he suggested it was about a politician, and Steve said in the tone of your old grumpy grampa "Maiden doesn't do politics" and wrote lyrics with a similar theme and everyone was happy.
 
Last edited:
"Maiden doesn't do politics"... Have you forgotten their Iron Lady references? how about Childhood's End? Fear is the Key? Be Quick or Be Dead? (excuse all the FotD examples). Mother of Mercy? 2 Minutes to Midnight? Blood Brothers?
 
Given that Steve has been said to have lost two people very close to him whilst the album was being made, I think its safe to say that lyrics to The Man of Sorrows were penned by him, given their theme (eg. as we watch all our friends passing over...)
 
Back
Top