Invader said:
I've always interpreted it as pissing on propaganda that the war in Iraq is "protecting the western countries' (or just America's) freedom", and that the rewards for these soldiers who die for their country are only "lonely unmarked graves." Perhaps irony was the wrong word, though.
Pro-soldiers, anti-war; I've never thought of it from that point of view too much, but it does make sense. I still think it's anti-patriotic, though. Basically, it doesn't matter whether you die for your country or something else in war, but you still die. "what's the difference, all the same." This might be very much of a cultural interpretation, though; if your country is at war, you might feel very differently about the song.
Sorry, mate. "These Colours Don't Run" is a tribute, not a mocking. I'm not saying that Iron Maiden et al. approve of the current War in Iraq (listening to "Afraid To Shoot Strangers" should tell you they weren't fans of the last one, either). The line, "What's the difference, all the same" is a clouded reference to the concept of being "brothers in arms".
The lyrics were written by Bruce, remember, and Bruce's degree is in history - the more and more I look back on the song, the more I think it's a reference to the Tommies of World War II, or at least mostly inspired therein. The specific combat references in the song are rather explicit: "red light, green light, so you go to war" is a very clear reference to paratroopers; "on the shores of tyranny we crashed a human wave" refers to an amphibious assault, or many amphibious assaults, not something the West has done since Inchon in Korea; "there's no one that can save you, going down in flames" either refers to an unlucky fighter pilot, or, a Dakota shot down, burning its crew and carried compliment as it plummets to earth. Admittedly, the last is open to any war from WW1 onwards, but the other two are extremely specific.
Then there's the chorus: "Far away from the land of our birth, we fly a flag in some foreign earth," - UK troops were deployed in Western Europe and South-East Asia; Africa and the Middle East, Australia and Greece. "We sail away like our fathers before," a generational reference. Since the UK didn't participate in the wars of the 1970s, that can't be a reference to the current crop of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan or Iraq. But it is most likely a reference to the 20 year old men of WW2, who's fathers had fought in 1914-18. Then, "These colours don't run, from cold bloody war!" Let me see what I can find that has the exact same tone as that....
"Let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties, and so bear ourselves that if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, 'This was their Finest Hour.'"
"This is the lesson: never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never—in nothing, great or small, large or petty—never give in except to convictions of honour and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy."
"We shall not flag or fail. We shall fight in France. We shall fight on the seas and oceans. We shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air. We shall defend our islands, whatever the cost may be. We shall fight on the beaches. We shall fight on the landing grounds. We shall fight in the fields and in the streets. We shall fight in the hills - we shall never surrender!"
