When the Wild Wind Blows

How good is When the Wild Wind Blows on a scale of 1-10?

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    13
The Man Who Would Be King

The story behind When The Wind Blows is about the alienation of the masses and at which extreme reactions people might reach, pretty much like Orson Welles narrating the world being invaded by aliens and people panicking and getting insane believing something they don't even minded to verify before believing. It's cool how this is a recurring theme throughout the album - El Dorado, Mother Of Mercy, The Alchemist, Starblind, The Talisman, The Man Who Would Be Kind and When The Wild Wind Blows all deal somehow with deception, betrayal of the self and self delusion; The Final Frontier is not only space but the line that divides what is made to be real and the truth, and the carachters in these lyrics are all pondering about it or getting it outcome or being invited to look more into their own instead of thinking the grass in greener somewhere else when they don't even take care of their own soil.
 
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Albie said:
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.
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But...they're supposed to be an elderly couple.  Shouldn't they have experience from those lesser UK earthquakes then and recognize this as just another one?

Come to think of it, it's only the twist at the end that ruins the lyric for me.  The rest of the lyric is sweet enough, but I just don't buy the ending, it's too far fetched.
 
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I first heard the song when the album leaked and couldn't understand the ending lyrics. Then, when I saw what they were, it actually made me sad and shed a few tears.
 
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Play Classics! said:
Shouldn't they have experience from those lesser UK earthquakes then and recognize this as just another one?
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Not really, a lot of people in the UK would go through their whole life without feeling an earthquake.
 
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Play Classics! said:
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?!
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It's a song.  It doesn't have to completely accurate.
 
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Prowler_108 said:
It's a song.  It doesn't have to completely accurate.
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True. It could be slightly believable though.

It's a great song still, but the final lyrics are just *facepalm* .  Would have been so much better if Steve just went with the actual story and ended it with them praying together in their last moments. The cartoon When The Wind Blows left me heartbroken, the song doesn't have that impact whatsoever.
 
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No offense to Blaze. I enjoy his singing and give him a lot of courage for stepping up to fill Bruce's shoes, but after hearing how Bruce MAJORLY improved the Blaze songs he sang live on, I highly doubt I would enjoy Blaze singing this song.
 
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Travis_AKA_fonzbear2000 said:
No offense to Blaze. I enjoy his singing and give him a lot of courage for stepping up to fill Bruce's shoes, but after hearing how Bruce MAJORLY improved the Blaze songs he sang live on, I highly doubt I would enjoy Blaze singing this song.
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I feel the same way. Sign of the Cross and Clansman on Rock in Rio were amazing; I can't even listen to the Blaze versions! It's not that Blaze is a bad vocalist or anything, but his style just never clicked with Maiden's music in my opinion. You can't replace a high tenor with a baritone and expect everything to just work out.

That said, there's really only one line in this song that Blaze would probably have trouble hitting, anyway. But I'd much rather hear Bruce due to (in my opinion) higher quality.

I must admit that a Blaze version of The Talisman would be amazing! :p
 
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LooseCannon said:
It has been explained why it is a believable story.
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I've been in several earthquakes, including the really big San Francisco quake in 1989, which coincidentally was my very first earthquake.  My initial reaction, which lasted more than a couple seconds, was "what the hell is that?"  I first noticed a loud rumbling noise, then I noticed the walls shaking, and only after that did I notice the ground shaking.  Now, bear in mind I had just moved to Stanford and had been given lots of literature by the university about what to do in the event of an earthquake.  So, I was somewhat aware that an earthquake could hit at any time.  Even with that precursor, I didn't realize it was an earthquake until after the first few seconds.  In contrast, if an earthquake hit England -- which as I understand it is not a hotbed of tectonic activity, at least not like California, and thus no one would be expecting it -- AND people were expecting a nuclear attack at the time, initially confusing the two in a moment of fear is perfectly understandable.  In fact, I would guess that most people would absolutely confuse the two, at least for a moment.  Eventually you'd figure it out, but not after a few seconds of panic, which might be long enough to freak out and do yourself in.  

Now, obviously, if one were coldly rational, it would be impossible to confuse the two.  In a nuclear blast, the light would reach you before any vibrations in the earth, and presumably the shock wave through the air would travel faster than the shock wave through the ground, too.  But who would be coldly rational in that situation?  You'd be scared shitless.    

All that said, I tend to agree with Play Classics in one regard:  the song would be more haunting and powerful if the last line had been omitted, or replaced with the image of the couple praying in their last moments.  But that's not how the artist wanted it, and I respect that and still love the song as-is.  
 
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LooseCannon said:
Blaze would have sounded incredible on this track.
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I think he would've been better than Bruce. Which is strange because I like Bruce better on most Blaze songs.
 
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Travis_AKA_fonzbear2000 said:
Bruce MAJORLY improved the Blaze songs he sang live on
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Wait, what?  

Lord of the Flies
Blaze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gWrmyhXMY4
Bruce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylp4mFA1IY8

Futureal
Blaze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjya93d3Yww
Bruce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-zCI6rFNyM

The Clansman
Blaze: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-L4sfRJOlY
Bruce: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxn1EAY3TsQ

The Bruce versions are somewhat better than the Blaze studio versions for some songs (The Clansman, maybe), but Maiden songs in general (regardless of singer) tend to get loads better live.  In the case of the Blaze songs, that has quite little to do with Bruce.  If the only recorded live version of Fear of the Dark was with Blaze, people would say that Blaze made Fear of the Dark better, which would also be false: being played live made it better.  I would argue that Bruce slaughtered Lord of the Flies almost as much as Blaze slaughtered The Trooper.

Like Afraid to Shoot Strangers where Blaze did a better job, this is might be one of those songs which suit Blaze better, though it was written for Bruce.

Edit: Edited the above sentence, because the meaning on the original one was unclear.  Zare's post was (I think) was directed at the earlier version.  Sorry for any confusion.
 
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He did a better job on the ATSS.
 
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cornfedhick said:
In contrast, if an earthquake hit England -- which as I understand it is not a hotbed of tectonic activity, at least not like California, and thus no one would be expecting it -- AND people were expecting a nuclear attack at the time, initially confusing the two in a moment of fear is perfectly understandable.  In fact, I would guess that most people would absolutely confuse the two, at least for a moment.  Eventually you'd figure it out, but not after a few seconds of panic, which might be long enough to freak out and do yourself in.  
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I've been in an earthquake here in England. Being woken up at 2am by a massive roar and a vibrating bedroom is probably the freakiest thing that has ever happened to me. I was ready to accept nuclear war, alien invasion, etc if someone told me that was what it was. After 5 minutes of panicking I realised it could've been an earthquake, if I'd have had years of propaganda telling me that we were facing nuclear war, I definitely could've believed it. And I'd like to think I'm not naive and stupid :p
 
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Invader, I thought the Blaze songs live with Bruce were better MAINLY because of Bruce's vocals, not because they were live versions. For me it was Bruce's vocals that was the main, major improvement.
 
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