Isle of Avalon

How good is Isle of Avalon on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    17
Machiventa said:
What mistake? I'll edit my post with the correction.


I'm surprised there isn't more discussion of this song considering I've seen a lot of people saying this is one of their favorites on the album.
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I don't remember...it was pretty minor. However, the red parts are my corrections from yours.
 
I just had a thought that made me laugh pretty good!

As Bruce is singing about the corn dolls, and throwing the dead on the funeral pyre....I got this picture of the corn dolls representing the dead souls...and as they were thrown into the fire, a ton of popcorn started to erupt out of the fire...and everyone standing around the fire began catching pieces of popcorn, and then essentially eating the pieces of the souls of the dead. :lol:

It's going to take a few listens to get that image out of my head...haha!
BTW.....hands up everyone....if everytime you look at an ear of corn now, you will think of Iron Maiden.

:lol:
 
This song has a very strange ending. It sounds like the band would have wanted to just go on and on and on with the song, but they had to end it at some point, so it comes very sudden in the last verse. Anyway, the way Bruce sings "the isle.. of the dead" is amazing.

Amazing song. Stunning. Brilliant.
 
Khan said:
I just had a thought that made me laugh pretty good!

As Bruce is singing about the corn dolls, and throwing the dead on the funeral pyre....I got this picture of the corn dolls representing the dead souls...and as they were thrown into the fire, a ton of popcorn started to erupt out of the fire...and everyone standing around the fire began catching pieces of popcorn, and then essentially eating the pieces of the souls of the dead. :lol:

It's going to take a few listens to get that image out of my head...haha!
BTW.....hands up everyone....if everytime you look at an ear of corn now, you will think of Iron Maiden.

:lol:
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Corn dolls have nothing to do with corn.
 
LooseCannon said:
Corn dolls have nothing to do with corn.
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I've read from several sources now which contradict that. A lot of them relate to the Native Americans in their fashioning of dolls from the husks of corn...and calling them corn dolls. However, since Maiden is British, I'll throw out this, pulled from Wikipedia (admittedly not the asbolute best source for truth at all times)...

James George Frazer discusses the Corn-mother and the Corn-maiden in Northern Europe, and the harvest rituals that were being practised at the beginning of the 20th century:
Claidheach.jpg

    "In the neighbourhood of Danzig the person who cuts the last ears of corn makes them into a doll, which is called the Corn-mother or the Old Woman and is brought home on the last waggon. In some parts of Holstein the last sheaf is dressed in women's clothes and called the Corn-mother. It is carried home on the last waggon, and then thoroughly drenched with water. The drenching with water is doubtless a rain-charm. In the district of Bruck in Styria the last sheaf, called the Corn-mother, is made up into the shape of a woman by the oldest married woman in the village, of an age from 50 to 55 years. The finest ears are plucked out of it and made into a wreath, which, twined with flowers, is carried on her head by the prettiest girl of the village to the farmer or squire, while the Corn-mother is laid down in the barn to keep off the mice. In other villages of the same district the Corn-mother, at the close of harvest, is carried by two lads at the top of a pole. They march behind the girl who wears the wreath to the squire's house, and while he receives the wreath and hangs it up in the hall, the Corn-mother is placed on the top of a pile of wood, where she is the centre of the harvest supper and dance."
    —The Golden Bough, chapter 45

I think, based on what I've read, some believed that the spirit of the corn resided in the corn fields, and the harvesting of the corn left is homeless. I read further that they created a corn doll from thehusk of the last of the corn to be harvested, and the spirit of the corn resided there, until the next year and the seeds of the next crop of corn were sown. I think Maiden may have used that as imagery for the souls of the dead coming to a certain place, and then being reborn again....all the the while the story also paralelling along with the story of the Isle Of Avalon being the place where the souls of the dead are reborn.

I am VERY open to being told I'm wrong....but from what I've read thus far, this seems like a good working theory.
 
Corn in the European standard means "grain". You're referring to "maize", which most US/Canadians call "corn". But "corn" is really just a generic term for a stalk plant. When they say "corn doll" it means "a doll made from grain plants", which could be barley, wheat, rye, etc. It doesn't mean maize at all, as corn dollies are pre-Christian (ie Celtic pagan) traditions that existed over 2000 years before Europeans knew of Central America which is where maize was first cultivated.
 
LooseCannon said:
Corn in the European standard means "grain". You're referring to "maize", which most US/Canadians call "corn". But "corn" is really just a generic term for a stalk plant. When they say "corn doll" it means "a doll made from grain plants", which could be barley, wheat, rye, etc. It doesn't mean maize at all, as corn dollies are pre-Christian (ie Celtic pagan) traditions that existed over 2000 years before Europeans knew of Central America which is where maize was first cultivated.
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Well...ok, but the spirit of what I said is still true...just replace the word corn with grain. Since its the word Maiden used in the song...that's the word I used. They still clearly talk about actual dolls.
 
LooseCannon said:
The image loses something without the popcorn coming out of the fire :P
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Just remember...next time you see an ear of corn at the supermarket...whatever you do...do NOT think of Iron Maiden! :D
 
LooseCannon said:
I won't, but I'll headbang when I eat my Wheaties tomorrow!
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you know when you eat a lot of corn....and later on you see little yellow pieces in your poo? I wonder if that could be considered a corn doll?

:blink:
Also....i wonder if it's too soon yet, to come up with a set of parody lyrics....something having to do with a corn dog? :lol:
 
i didn't like this song. now i fucking love it. its definitly a grower. i guess i never listened to it the right way because i can't get it out of my head. the guitar solos are just unbeleivable. and bruces voice singing.
 
If someone would have

1. Played me a particular sample of this song, to be precisely: 4:17 - 5:30.

2. Told me it's from the upcoming Rush album.

3. I'd believe it instantly without a shadow of doubt (even if I subconsciously would recognize H).

In other words:
A. Maiden have never sounded so much like Rush.
B. If you don't know Rush and love this part: get all their albums from 1977-1981 (their most progressive era with many thrilling rhythms, awesome basslines and riffs, and last but not least: most excellent lyrics).
 
Forostar said:
If someone would have

1. Played me a particular sample of this song, to be precisely: 4:17 - 5:30.

2. Told me it's from the upcoming Rush album.

3. I'd believe it instantly without a shadow of doubt (even if I subconsciously would recognize H).

In other words:
A. Maiden have never sounded so much like Rush.
B. If you don't know Rush and love this part: get all their albums from 1977-1981 (their most progressive era with many thrilling rhythms, awesome basslines and riffs, and last but not least: most excellent lyrics).
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i couldn't agree more with all of the above
 
LooseCannon said:
I won't, but I'll headbang when I eat my Wheaties tomorrow!
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Yes, this song really changes my view on cereal.  :edmetal:

Anyway...when I first heard this song I did a double-take and thought 'what the hell is this?'. There's just so much going on in the song I could tell this would need alot more listens to even begin to get my head round it. Well, now I've listened to it a few more times, and it's growing on me all the while. Given the spooky intro I thought the entire song would take an entirely different path than the one it does (read: alot more rime or something dark at any rate). I also thought the lyrics would be all about King Arthur or something of that nature. Instead, there comes the celebratory (literally) chorus about corn dolls and mother earth and then at 4:17 there comes a section that sounds totally alien to Maiden. If knew much about Rush I'd say Rush but I don't so I go with something Pink Floydish. Anyway, its a completely surprising song on every level imaginable, but so far I'm enjoying it, because it is surprising and new and different and yet (because its Maiden) it works. Hats off to the boys for coming with something this creative and fresh at this stage in their career. Will come back when I've got some kind of grip on the thing.
 
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