The Man Who Would Be King

How good is The Man Who Would Be King on a scale of 1-10?

  • Total voters
    13
This song was - as were The Alchemist and When The Wild Wind Blows - worked out in the Bahamas and it was 2 Dave's idea put together.
 
After 10th listen to this song I must say: this song has awsome chorus! Not the typical sing-along chorus of Maiden, but really interesting.
 
This song is still after god knows how many listens my least favourite on the album, but considering the high standard on the album it doesn't mean much. many parts of the song have grown on me through time though, but the chorus (Destiny... (I call that the chorus, but maybe it's not?)) still does but me of a bit, I don't know why, maybe it's the words... still, I feel like this, as the "worst" song, would still be top 5 on most other albums =)
 
stannar_kvar said:
This song is still after god knows how many listens my least favourite on the album, but considering the high standard on the album it doesn't mean much. many parts of the song have grown on me through time though, but the chorus (Destiny... (I call that the chorus, but maybe it's not?)) still does but me of a bit, I don't know why, maybe it's the words... still, I feel like this, as the "worst" song, would still be top 5 on most other albums =)
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I feel the same way.  Lots of interesting parts, great intro, classic outrio, cool atmosphere, but as a whole doesn't do much for me.
 
Im really dissapointed that daves solo is so low in the mix, and because his legato is so smooth, it's hard tomake anything out.
 
That's the greatest complaint about the song, but it was done on purpose. A different dynamic to the song. Also, the song has a bleak atmosphere and it paints pictures of a desert at night and the dawning, somehow, in my mind.
 
"He's walking like a small child but watch his eyes burn you away
Black holes in his golden stare God knows he wants to go home "
- Children of the Damned

"As the ground warms to the first rays of light a bird song shatters the still
His eyes are ablaze, see the madman in his gaze "
- Flight of Icarus

"He is the king of all the land in the kingdom of the sands of a time tomorrow
He rules the sand worms and the Fremen in a land amongst the stars of an age tomorrow"
- To Tame a Land

"Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerises one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the Sea "
- Rime of the Ancient Mariner

"At the age of nineteen he became the Macedon King and he swore to free all of Asia Minor
By the Aegian Sea in 334 BC he utterly beat the armies of Persia "
- Alexander the Great

Technically, Invaders, Quest for Fire, and some others are in third person, but they are telling about many people.

So no, it's not the first, but third person is quite rare for Maiden.  They haven't done it since Man on the Edge, I think, and even that has a few lines in second person.
 
Sorry if my post came off smartarse, by the way.  It was a good question, I had to actively look for songs in third person.
 
Ok. After reading lyrics and singing that awesome chorus few times, I am changing order of songs. This one is top (sorry WTWWB), and I don't think it will change any time soon.

Also, I don't think this song is about anyone specific. It's a generic tale of a man who once had dreams and bright future before him (hence he would be a "king" just like ASAP's You could be a king) and fucked it up so much (murdered someone), that all that's left is penance. But then again, I am nowhere near 100% sure. More precisely, I am almost 100% wrong.
 
That's exactly what happens of the movie with Sean Connery and Michael Caine; the moral outcome of this story is what Steve simplified on the lyrics.
 
Ranko said:
I just finished watching The Man Who Would Be King, a movie from 1975 starring Sean Connery, Michael Caine and Christopher Plummer.

After having seen it, I'd say that there's a pretty good chance the song is related either to the movie or Rudyard Kipling's book of the same name and theme.
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when I first heard the lyrics to the song:

As he travels on the beast of Burden
Moving up along the mountain side
As he gazes looking down the valley
No regrets but his pride

As he journeys across mountain passes
And significant sweeps overhand
His reflection of the beauty around him
Feeling empty inside

I couldn't help but think about the painting "The Remnants of an Army", 1879, by Elizabeth Butler.
It's about "William Brydon, survivor from the 1842 retreat from Kabul, in which 16,000 men, women and children were massacred by Afghan tribesmen. The picture shows Brydon, grievously wounded, weaving into Jalalabad on a dying horse." Which is sort of along the line of the Kipling story and Connery movie.
remnants_611987a.jpg

http://www.britishempire.co.uk/art/butlerremnants.htm

The painting shows the British soldier arriving to Jalalabad, which seems to be on a plateau. The lyrics however describe him leaving from the scene of defeat, with its valleys and mountain passes...etc
 
WAIT A MINUTE

No regrets but his pride  
and then
There's not a day that goes by he regrets what he's done


So, thoughts?
 
Mega said:

No regrets but his pride  
and then
There's not a day that goes by he regrets what he's done
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I think the second line is reinforcing the second - i.e. the 2nd line reads that he doesn't regret his actions.  For me, this makes more sense when you look at the last two verses as a whole:

He's taken someone’s life away
There’s not a day that goes by he regrets what he’s done
He should have found another way
But the good book says an eye for an eye

In reflecting on decisions that were made
On the judgements that will haunt him ’till his grave
No-one has the right to take another life
But in his mind he had no choice so be it

This sounds like a man who's unflinching in his approach to life: do what you believe to be right and deal with the consequences later; never regret your actions since these define your life and without them your life is nothing.  Since this moral story centres around his killing of another man, we see just how far he pushes this philosophy.  He wishes that circumstances had been different and that he had not had to do this, but given the choice again he would still do it.  He'll now have to live with the consequences for the rest of his life and will have to try and find a truce with his god, BUT he will never have regrets because they would deny the meaning of his own life and make it worthless.  This is clearly a fairly precarious philosophy!! 

Then again I may be talking crap - this doesn't seem to follow what I recall of the plot of the film (though 'arry has probably just used this as inspiration, rather than following to the letter) - time to dig out a copy and watch it again :)

Great song though - a real grower...
 
He says he REGRETS the ACTION of taking someone's life.
It's right there, contradicting the first part of my quote.
 
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