What is the Imagery Of Maiden

M

Mysterio

Invader
To me, when I see them perform, they always come off like Storyteller/Warriors.  Its like if I wanted someone to talk about War and carnage and injustice in a song format.  Maiden would be the top choice. 

Maiden don't sing about love and sex.  Or about chicks and cars.  They sing about War/Battles.

What do you think.
 
They have been known to produce songs about all of those topics although not much, especially lately. They're 6 Brits in the waning years of their life and don't have the drive to produce music like that anymore. If I recorded music, what I would write about now in my mid 30's would be vastly different then what I would have wrote about in my early 20's. Eddie is the imagery of Maiden and I hope the next album cover portrays him killing something.
 
Now, that's not quite true.  AMOLAD had several songs about war: The Longest Day, These Colours Don't Run, For The Greater Good of God, The Legacy all have some references, as well Brighter Than A Thousand Suns is pretty close.  On Dance of Death, certainly both Montsegur and Paschendale referred to war.
 
Well what I was refering to was the sex and girls..... ref: the Charlotte the Harlot series.
 
Yes, but the lyrics are still very different. Compare the views on war in Aces High and in These Colours Don't Run for instance, and you can certainly tell which one was written by a mid-twenties lyricist and which one by an early fifties one.
 
Plesiosaur said:
Well what I was refering to was the sex and girls..... ref: the Charlotte the Harlot series.
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But even so, the sex/girls wasn't always the Guns 'N Roses type attitude.  For example, 22 Acacia Avenue:

You're running away don't you know what you're doing?
Can't you see it'll lead you to ruin?
Charlotte you've taken your life and you've thrown it away
You believe that because what you're earning
Your life's good don't you know that you're hurting
All the people that love you don't cast them aside
All the men that are constantly drooling
It's no life for you stop all that screwing
You're packing your bags and you're coming with me
Click to expand...

Literature, history, and religion are also rather common topics throughout their career: from Phantom of the Opera, Run to the Hills and Revelations to For the Greater Good of God, Montsegur, and Brave New World.
 
Mythology & Legend: Flight of Icarus, Ghost of the Navigator, Powerslave, Seventh Son.
 
LooseCannon said:
Mythology & Legend: ... Powerslave ...
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I disagree - this is a history song. Pharoahs really did exist, and they did think they were gods. The words of the title character are something a real Pharoah may have thought on his deathbed.

The Pharoahs may have believed in mythology, and this may be reflected in their words (enter the risen Osiris etc) - but the depiction of this character by Bruce's lyrics is realistic, not mythological.
 
Yes, Pharaohs were real, but the song wasn't describing the life of a pharaoh, more of the religious concepts that surrounded this particular, unnamed pharaoh's end of life.  I would say that it is more of a myth song than a history lesson, when compared to songs like ATG and Paschendale, for instance.
 
I've always seen Powerslave as more of a metaphorical song myself, but I'd say that it's both mythology and history.  It has a strong historical background but deals with mythological themes, good enough for both of you? ;)

Movies is one that hasn't been mentioned yet.  The Prisoner, Children of the Damned, The Duellists, The Mercenary, etc.
 
I don't think "movies" and "literature" qualify as descriptive categories. A lot of Maiden's songs were inspired by movies and books, but while there are a few songs ("Rime of the Ancient Mariner" comes to mind) that more or less describe the plot of its source, most of the songs simply deal with its themes from the band's point of view. Just because "Children of the Damned" and "The Duellists" were both based on movies it doesn't mean the lyrical themes are related.
 
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