No Prayer for the Dying also produced Maiden's only number one single to date, Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter, originally written and recorded by Dickinson alone for the A Nightmare on Elm Street 5: The Dream Child movie soundtrack. The version that appears on No Prayer for the Dying was rerecorded by the band as a whole. Holy Smoke and Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter were released as singles, with the latter reaching the #1 position in the UK charts.
Adrian Smith was replaced by Janick Gers who had assisted Dickinson in the recording of his first solo-album, Tattooed Millionaire, and had also worked with Fish and Ian Gillan, among others.
No Prayer for the Dying is the only Iron Maiden studio album to date without a song exceeding six minutes in length. The album was also the band's first for Epic Records in the US after the band left Capitol Records but remained with EMI for all territories outside the US. Despite promising initial U.S sales, the album did not sell as well as previous Iron Maiden albums, being the first not to turn Platinum in the U.S.
Following Bruce Dickinson's departure from Iron Maiden in 1993, songs from No Prayer for the Dying have been largely ignored at live performances. Only Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter has survived in concerts since, but it was only included on a nightly basis in setlists from May-July 2003.
Tailgunner
Iron Maiden Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
To the glow of Dresden, blood and tears
In the black above by the cruel searchlight
Men will die and men will fight, yeah
Who shot who and who fired first?
Dripping death to wet the blood thirst
No radar lock on skin and bone
The bomber boys are going home
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Nail that Fokker, kill that son
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
The weather forecasts' good for war
Cologne and Frankfurt? Have some more, hahaha
Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky
The Enola Gay was my last try
Now that this Tailgunner's gone
No more bombers, just one big bomb, yeah, ooh
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Iron Maiden's song "Tailgunner" takes listeners back in time to World War II during which men fought and died in the skies over Europe. The lyrics recall the bombing of the city of Dresden, Germany, and the bloody consequences of war. The opening lines of the song implores listeners to trace back their memories fifty years to remember the horrors of Dresden. The lines "Who shot who and who fired first? Dripping death to wet the blood thirst" imply the chaotic and brutal nature of war in which nobody is completely sure of who shot whom or who fired the first shot.
The chorus of the song, "Climb into the sky, never wonder why, Tailgunner you're a Tailgunner," is a call to arms and a celebration of the brave airmen who manned the tailgun in the bombers. The song describes the tailgunner's heroism in protecting the plane from attacks from behind. The lyrics also contain an element of humor in lines like "Nail that Fokker, kill that son, gonna blow your guts out with my gun" implying that the act of killing enemies in the sky was not without a degree of satisfaction.
The song ends on a somber note, "Now that this Tailgunner's gone, no more bombers, just one big bomb." It refers to the Enola Gay, which was the plane that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, effectively ending World War II. The song is a tribute to the brave men who fought and died in the skies over Europe during World War II.
Line by Line Meaning
Trace your way back fifty years
Recall the events of the past, going back fifty years
To the glow of Dresden, blood and tears
Visualize the destruction of Dresden, which was illuminated by flames and filled with blood and tears
In the black above by the cruel searchlight
In the darkness of the night, illuminated by the cruel searchlight
Men will die and men will fight, yeah
Inevitably, men will die and fight in battle
Who shot who and who fired first?
It is unclear who initiated the attack and who fired the first shot
Dripping death to wet the blood thirst
Death and bloodshed are abundant in this battle
No radar lock on skin and bone
The enemy cannot be targeted by radar as they are human beings
The bomber boys are going home
The bombers who survived the attack are returning home
Climb into the sky
Ascend into the sky
Never wonder why
Do not question why
Tailgunner
The person who operates the tail gun on a bomber
You're a Tailgunner
You are the tailgunner
Nail that Fokker, kill that son
Shoot down and kill the enemy plane, a Fokker
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
I will use my gun to inflict fatal damage on the enemy
The weather forecasts' good for war
The weather conditions favor the continuation of war
Cologne and Frankfurt? Have some more, hahaha
Bombs will be dropped on additional German cities, like Cologne and Frankfurt, without remorse
Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky
The last or most vulnerable bomber in a formation, in the blistering sky
The Enola Gay was my last try
The Enola Gay, a bomber that dropped an atomic bomb on Japan, was the last plane I operated
Now that this Tailgunner's gone
Now that I, the tailgunner, am no longer here
No more bombers, just one big bomb, yeah, ooh
There is no need for multiple bombers anymore, as one big bomb can do the job
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Bruce Dickinson, Stephen Percy Harris
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
George Dill
on The Number of the Beast
kicking it