When the Wild Wind Blows

[excepteuropa1]

The Man Who Would Be King

  I grew up in a relatively small (20K people), backwoods, redneck, East Texas town called Palestine.  Oddly enough, however, our small local library had both the book and video of "When the Wind Blows", both of which I became familiar with in the mid '80s.

 

[Ironpriest]

The Man Who Would Be King

To me, this song is very similar to Hallowed be Thy Name, in terms of atmoshere and progression. It has that same sense of psycological emulation that Hallowed excecuted so flawlessly. The music does start of in an almost cheerie way, reflecting the old couple kind of shrugging off the news and accepting the inevitable. then the music becomes gradually darker and more serious to show the comprehension of impending death, typified by that absolutely BEAUTIFUL solo which perfectly captures the "grim" atmospere that has been accumulating throughout the song. The part in the middle of the song even echos a sence of retrospective of the couples life.

By the way, who plays the last solo?

 

[Privateer454]

The Man Who Would Be King

It's hard to believe that a song so heavy and dark in subject matter can be so catchy, but for me it is, and never has it felt as long as it actually is.  This one is truly a new classic.

 

[Natalie]

The Man Who Would Be King

It would be kind of cool if Maiden made a non-album album of all the 'B side' tracks they have...things that never made it onto an album just for fun.

 

[Baron Ronan]

The Man Who Would Be King

You mean like Best of the B Sides? I don't like how that's not fully comprehensive, so I made my own extra compilation which I titled "Best of the Rest of the B Sides". It's got every B Side not included on the official one, though I left out live versions of songs which already saw an official live release with that particular singer.

 

[Cmaro214]

The Man Who Would Be King

i wouldnt want this to be their last album but another side of me says it should be, with the theme, music and lyrics it really fits the bill to end it all on.

 

[Montségur]

The Man Who Would Be King

This is really a good ending song!

 

[Albie]

The Man Who Would Be King

I'm not sure where I read it (I thought it was on the Commentary, but after a quick scan, I couldn't find it there), but it was Bruce that said something about living through the fear of a nuclear attack that we all did through the 80's - well, at least those of us that were around back then. What these two people are going through is exactly that, each and every one of us were convinced of this. An old school teacher of mine would say to us:

Each morning you wake up, be thankful that you are still alive because we could so easily be wiped out in an instant.

He was not jesting either. It was that fear that drove us to that state of anxiety - I seriously did not think we would get past 1984! And for these people in this song to learn about an imminent strike would have heightened their anxieties although, as Steve said in an interview, they still kept their British stiff upper lip and got on with it. But as it turned out, underneath they were just too fragile.

 

[Babo 91]

The Man Who Would Be King

I'm not sure where I read it (I thought it was on the Commentary, but after a quick scan, I couldn't find it there), but it was Bruce that said something about living through the fear of a nuclear attack that we all did through the 80's - well, at least those of us that were around back then. What these two people are going through is exactly that, each and every one of us were convinced of this. An old school teacher of mine would say to us:

He was not jesting either. It was that fear that drove us to that state of anxiety - I seriously did not think we would get past 1984! And for these people in this song to learn about an imminent strike would have heightened their anxieties although, as Steve said in an interview, they still kept their British stiff upper lip and got on with it. But as it turned out, underneath they were just too fragile.

Thats a great quote. That sounds like something dave murray would say in an interview.

 

[The Mid-Distance Runner]

The Man Who Would Be King

This midtempo epic has just replaced Starblind as my favourite off TFF. It is a classic for the ages, full of wholesome Maiden riffs and harmonies, a heavy combo of bass and drums and a wonderful almost Dio-like vocal performance from Bruce. Infact I dub WTWWB as the Maiden equivalent of Sabbath's "Heaven and Hell"(the song).

The modern storyline makes this feel more relevant and "real", than other epics such as Alexander and Rime.

This song will be very large live.

 

[Cosmiceddie]

The Man Who Would Be King

The more I listen to this song the better is gets. However, compared to 'The Talisman', this one comes off second-best only.

 

[Donner]

The Man Who Would Be King

My least favorite on the new album by far.  It just doesn't go anywhere.  Take away the story and it's musically very lacking to me.

 

[Babo 91]

The Man Who Would Be King

I feel the final 3rd of this song is really boring

 

[Play Classics!]

The Man Who Would Be King

Incredibly stupid song.

Who the hell mistakes an earthquake for a nuclear fallout? A true dumbass might, but I don't wanna hear a song about a true dumbass.
Also, how many major earthquakes hit the UK historically anyways? The story IS intended to take part in the UK, obviously, with the tea drinking and stuff.
Furthermore - why did the fool bother to carry supplies "to last them for a year or two" into the shelter if they were going to kill themselves anyhow? This suggests they spent about two years in the shelter, and perhaps longer before their bodies were found - come on!  Is Steve trying to tell us anybody would sit on their arse in a shelter for 2 years believing a nuclear bomb have hit, and not discover it wasn't a nuclear bomb for more than 700 days?

Mind you, I like the music of this song and still rate it high, but lyrically it's Quest for Fire material for you right there, and yet so many people praise the lyrics of this song?!

 

[LooseCannon]

The Man Who Would Be King

Wow, you really don't get it.

England sits on a somewhat dead faultline. There are two to three earthquakes a year you can feel, especially in the Midlands. You might mistake a small earthquake for a nuclear explosion if you believe that you're being fed propaganda by the television set, and you might decide to die rather than live through nuclear holocaust if you're very old.

People do stupid things sometimes when they are emotional.

The song, lyrically, is about the dangers of propaganda.

 

[Play Classics!]

The Man Who Would Be King

Wow, you really don't get it.

England sits on a somewhat dead faultline. There are two to three earthquakes a year you can feel, especially in the Midlands. You might mistake a small earthquake for a nuclear explosion if you believe that you're being fed propaganda by the television set, and you might decide to die rather than live through nuclear holocaust if you're very old.

People do stupid things sometimes when they are emotional.

The song, lyrically, is about the dangers of propaganda.

Sorry, but it still doesn't make sense. An earthquake doesnt "light up the sky" etc etc...  And why the fuss with stockpiling supplies if he planned suicide already?
It's like a story a kid made up.

 

[LooseCannon]

The Man Who Would Be King

And it didn't. Of course, we don't know where they are. If you're in the countryside, in a shelter which has no windows, you're not gonna see the sky light up, or not light up.

And maybe they made a snap decision to kill themselves, rather than planning it.

 

[Play Classics!]

The Man Who Would Be King

And it didn't. Of course, we don't know where they are. If you're in the countryside, in a shelter which has no windows, you're not gonna see the sky light up, or not light up.

And maybe they made a snap decision to kill themselves, rather than planning it.

Might be. Still, would have made more sense to simply wait for the bomb then. It's not like poisoning is a more pleasant way to go.

 

[LooseCannon]

The Man Who Would Be King

It depends on the poison, doesn't it? Some poison is quick and painless, others are very painful. But I would think that nuclear fallout, slow starvation, etc.

As they go through the song, they concentrate a lot on what they had. The things they grew up with, etc. Those are all going to be gone. It's not like they're young and can rebuild the world. They choose to die with the world they knew rather than see the world that was to be.

Unfortunately, it was an uneducated decision, obfuscated by the heavy use of government propaganda.

 

[Albie]

The Man Who Would Be King

Incredibly stupid song.

Who the hell mistakes an earthquake for a nuclear fallout? A true dumbass might, but I don't wanna hear a song about a true dumbass.

The song is more about the frailties of this couple. Like I said earlier in this thread they were living in time when the fear of a nuclear strike was constantly on peoples minds. The more it played on their minds, the more anxious they became.

Like LC said, we do have earthquakes in the UK but they are not very destructive. I have never felt or witnessed any, but again if this couple had never experienced an earthquake - and they would have certainly not experienced a nuclear bomb being dropped nearby - it is feasible that in their state of mind they could well of mistaken one for the other.