| Iron Maiden – Paschendale Lyrics | 13 years ago |
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On the topic of whether Iron Maiden as a whole are "pro" or "anti" war, I have to go with the sentiment expressed above that anyone who truly considers themself "pro-war" is either an ignoramus, a fool, or both. No one who understands war really wants it to happen, except perhaps a few sociopaths both with and without uniform. And even sociopaths tend to have at least some sense of self-preservation, if nothing else... Above and beyond that, though, I disagree that Maiden have any songs that truly glorify war. It seems to me that if you interpret a song like Aces High as being in any way positive, you're not really paying attention. The emotional charge of the song is ultimately terror and destruction -- running, scrambling, flying, rolling, turning, dying. IMO the only reason it sounds "happier" than, say, Paschendale, is because England won that battle, so there's a bit of a triumphant spin to it. There's also a triumphant edge to the last part of Montsegur, but that doesn't mean that Bruce Dickinson is in favor of what was done there or thinks that kind of thing should be done more often. Ultimately, every Maiden war song has a negative slant about war itself. It may not be overt about it, instead allowing the listener to come to their own conclusion... but I don't understand how you can hear these songs, over and over, for years, really listening to and thinking about them, and come up with any other idea than that Maiden are ultimately anti-war. I think most people are ultimately anti-war when you get right down to it, though. And like someone else said above, you can understand the necessity of a military action without being in favor of war in general. |
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