Iron Maiden's Two Minutes to Midnight (English)

Two minutes to midnight is a single from Iron Maiden’s Powerslave. It is special to me. It was the first vinyl I bought for 195 pesetas (one dollar and a half). The song was featured on side A of the Maxisingle. In side B there was a cover of Beckett’s Rainbow’s Gold and a recording of a argue of Steve Harris and Nicko McBrain recorded by Bruce Dickinson. Two minutes to midnight became one of my favourite songs ever. I love The Number of the Beast, but this song and the new sound of the group was out of this world.

I didn’t own a turntable, so I had to ask to my neighbours if they could copy the songs on tape. A few months later I watch on TV the video. It wasn’t that awesome as the song, but it didn’t matter. The song was there, from the begging to the end.


What are the lyrics all about? Well, nuclear hazard was a reality in the 80s. The idea of a Doomsday Clock was from an Atomic Scientifics Group. In 1953 they proclaim that it could take only two minutes to obliterate humanity from the face of the Planet (and may be the whole Planet). Thus the two minutes to midnight. It was the right thing to make aware the audience of this rock band of the dangers of the nuclear weapons. It was a sensible thing to do. Up the Irons!

I was thirteen, and an aspiring musician. The perfect sound of Iron Maiden was something impossible to achieve at that time of my learning. I listen to learn and, above all, to Nicko McBrain.


Being an amateur in drums (I had a selfmade cardboard box drum), anything I could use as an inspiration, information an learning staff was always welcome. And the Live After Death was it. I learn that you must cross your arms to let the right hand to play the Hi-Hat and that the Ride Cymbal must be played on the refrains. Then I learn that Bass Drum goes on odd times and the Snare Drum on the others. To me, Nicko McBrain is some kind of teacher.


The song was written by Bruce Dickinson and Adrian Smith, but Steve Harris must be mentioned too. He had write most of the songs of Iron Maiden and I think that my passion for Bass Guitars comes from him and Christ Squire. In my opinion, Bass is the prettiest instrument.

If you want to know more about Iron Maiden, go to http://www.ironmaiden.com/

Here is the embeb of YouTube where you could listen the song and after that there are the Lyrics.





Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we dont need a reason
The golden goose is on the loose
And never out of season
Some blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Heres my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death.

Chorus
The killers breed or the demons seed,
The glamour, the fortune, the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedoms stain,
But dont you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb.

The blind men shout let the creatures out
Well show the unbelievers
The napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time belsen feast...yeah!
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy,
We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.

Chorus

The body bags and little rags of children torn in two
And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you.
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun.

Chorus

Midnight...all night...