Dickinson began his career in music fronting small pub bands in the 1970s while attending school in Sheffield and university in London. In 1979, he joined British new wave heavy metal band Samson, with whom he gained some popularity under the stage name "Bruce Bruce" and performed on two studio records (Head On and Shock Tactics. He left Samson in 1981 to join Iron Maiden, replacing Paul Di'Anno, and debuted on their 1982 album "The Number of the Beast. During his first tenure in the band, they issued a series of US and UK platinum and gold albums in the 1980s.
Dickinson quit Iron Maiden in 1993 (being replaced by Blaze Bayley) to pursue his solo career, which saw him experiment with a wide variety of heavy metal and rock styles between 1990 and 1998 ( Tattooed Millionaire, Balls to Picasso, Skunkworks, Accident of Birth, and The Chemical Wedding). He rejoined the band in 1999, along with guitarist Adrian Smith, with whom he has released all subsequent studio albums. Since his return to Iron Maiden, he issued one further solo record in 2005, Tyranny of Souls. His younger cousin, Rob Dickinson, is the former lead singer of British alternative rock band Catherine Wheel, while his son, Austin, fronted the metalcore band Rise to Remain.
Outside his career in music, Dickinson is well known for his wide variety of other pursuits. Most notably, he undertook a career as a commercial pilot for Astraeus Airlines, which led to a number of media-reported ventures such as captaining Iron Maiden's converted charter airplane, Ed Force One, during their world tours. Following Astraeus' closure, he created his own aircraft maintenance and pilot training company in 2012, Cardiff Aviation. Dickinson presented his own radio show on BBC Radio 6 Music from 2002 to 2010, and has also hosted television documentaries, authored novels and film scripts, created a successful beer with Robinsons Brewery and competed at fencing internationally.
Although Dickinson never received formal training, he still possesses a wide vocal range which was trademarked by his quasi-operatic tenor. Along with Ronnie James Dio and Rob Halford, Dickinson is one of the pioneers of the operatic vocal style later to be adopted by power metal vocalists and regularly appears near the top in lists of the greatest rock vocalists/front-men of all time. Dickinson says that his style was influenced primarily by Arthur Brown, Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator), Ian Anderson (Jethro Tull) and Ian Gillan (Deep Purple).
Dickinson's singing varied notably in the 1990s in the recording of albums such as No Prayer for the Dying, Fear of the Dark and his first solo work Tattooed Millionaire, making use of a much more raspy and unpolished sound, befitting their stripped down style. Since returning to Iron Maiden in 1999, his singing style has returned to much like it was in the 1980s, though his voice has lowered with age. According to a report published in the Daily Mirror, Dickinson has an estimated vocal range of 4.25 octaves. His voice led to the nickname "The Air Raid Siren", which Billboard states is "due to the ferocious power of his singing", although Dickinson claims it actually originated from a fan complaint.
In addition to his vocal ability, Dickinson is known for his energetic stage performances, which he delivers consistently despite his age. He considers including the audience "the essence of the Maiden experience" and that his role is to "shrink the venue ... to turn that football stadium into the world's smallest club". To achieve this, Dickinson insists on gaining eye contact with audience members and urges them to join in with the phrase "scream for me" (followed by the concert's location). He is critical of performers who do not connect with their fans, particularly those who "[hide] behind the amps" and use an autocue, remarking that "people pay good money and [they] can't even remember the sodding words".
Discogs with Iron Maiden
The Number of the Beast (1982)
Piece of Mind (1983)
Powerslave (1984)
Somewhere in Time (1986)
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988)
No Prayer for the Dying (1990)
Fear of the Dark (1992)
Brave New World (2000)
Dance of Death (2003)
A Matter of Life and Death (2006)
The Final Frontier (2010)
The Book of Souls (2015)
Senjutsu (2021)
For the UK guitarist of Little Angels, see Bruce John Dickinson.
Bohemian Rhapsody
Bruce Dickinson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Is this just fantasy?
Caught in a landslide
No escape from reality
Open your eyes
Look up to the skies and see
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
Because I'm easy come, easy go
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me
Mama, just killed a man
Put a gun against his head
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Mama, life had just begun
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
Mama, ooo
Didn't mean to make you cry
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters
Too late, my time has come
Sends shivers down my spine
Body's aching all the time
Goodbye everybody I've got to go
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
Mama, ooo (anyway the wind blows)
I don't want to die
I sometimes wish I'd never been born at all
I see a little silhouetto of a man
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango
Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo, Gallileo,
Gallileo Figaro - magnifico
But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me
He's just a poor boy from a poor family
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
Easy come easy go will you let me go
Bismillah! No we will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go
Bismillah! We will not let you go let me go
Will not let you go let me go (never)
Never let you go let me go
Never let me go ooo
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me
For me
For me
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
So you think you can love me and leave me to die
Oh baby can't do this to me baby
Just gotta get out just gotta get right outta here
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
Nothing really matters
Anyone can see
Nothing really matters nothing really matters to me
Anyway the wind blows
The lyrics of "Bohemian Rhapsody" by Bruce Dickinson are a blend of realism and fantasy. The song begins with the poignant question "Is this the real life/Is this just fantasy?" which sets the mood of the song. The lines "Caught in a landslide/No escape from reality" convey that the singer is in a precarious situation that he cannot escape. The subsequent lines, "I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy/Because I'm easy come, easy go/A little high, little low/ Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me" suggest that the singer has given up hope and has resigned himself to whatever fate has in store for him.
The song takes a darker turn when the singer confesses to having killed a man in the lines "Mama, just killed a man/Put a gun against his head/Pulled my trigger, now he's dead." The singer's guilt is evident in the lines "But now I've gone and thrown it all away/Mama, ooo/Didn't mean to make you cry." He then prepares himself for death, as he believes it is too late for him by saying, "Too late, my time has come/Sends shivers down my spine." In the end, he accepts his fate, singing "Nothing really matters to me" over and over again, signifying that his life has become meaningless.
Line by Line Meaning
Is this the real life?
Questioning whether what is happening is real or just an illusion
Is this just fantasy?
Questioning whether what is happening is imaginary or not
Caught in a landslide
Feeling overwhelmed or stuck in a bad situation
No escape from reality
There is no way out of the current predicament
Open your eyes
To be more aware and observant of one's surroundings
Look up to the skies and see
To look for guidance or inspiration from a higher power
I'm just a poor boy, I need no sympathy
I want people to treat me like everyone else and not take pity on me because of my circumstances
Because I'm easy come, easy go
Not attaching much importance to material possessions and taking things as they come
A little high, little low
Feeling distorted, confused or extreme
Anyway the wind blows, doesn't really matter to me, to me
It does not matter which way things go or turn out achieved by chance or a desire of oneself.
Mama, just killed a man
The singer has just committed murder and is addressing his mother about it
Put a gun against his head
The artist used a firearm to kill the man.
Pulled my trigger, now he's dead
Explaining that the singer fired the gun at the man after putting it against his head
Mama, life had just begun
There was still much to experience and enjoy in life
But now I've gone and thrown it all away
The singer has lost all his chances of experiencing more in life by killing a man
Mama, ooo
Calling out to their mother who is a representation of innocence and purity.
Didn't mean to make you cry
The artist regrets hurting their mother
If I'm not back again this time tomorrow
If the singer does not return within a day, it's probably because they are in trouble or have been arrested.
Carry on, carry on, as if nothing really matters
Continue living life normally and without worry or regret
Too late, my time has come
It's too late for the artist, their life is over
Sends shivers down my spine
Feeling anxious or frightened, it's a sudden or intense reaction
Body's aching all the time
Suffering physical pain, the artist is in unbearable pain
Goodbye everybody I've got to go
The singer is saying goodbye to everyone as this is the end of the road for them
Gotta leave you all behind and face the truth
The artist has to leave others and confront their fate alone.
I see a little silhouetto of a man
The singer can see a vague outline of something or somebody in the distance
Scaramouch, scaramouch will you do the fandango
A person with a flamboyant personality, the singer asking if he would dance frenetically
Thunderbolt and lightning very very frightening me
The singer scared of any unusual circumstance hence using thunder and the lightning to demonstrate
Gallileo, Gallileo, Gallileo, Gallileo, Gallileo Figaro - magnifico
The artist shouts out the names of Gallileo and Figaro, the latter in a superlative form to magnify his importance
But I'm just a poor boy and nobody loves me
Feeling unloved and unappreciated by the world around him
Spare him his life from this monstrosity
The singer asking for the life of the poor boy to be spared from a monstrosity that has engulfed them
Easy come easy go will you let me go
Expressing the singer's hope for an easy death with minimal suffering
Bismillah! No we will not let you go - let him go
The artist is saying that they won't let the poor boy go as requested but are ready to release the demon that has come to take the poor boy with it
Bismillah! We will not let you go - let him go
The artist insisting they will not give in to any demands to release
Bismillah! We will not let you go let me go
The artist is saying they will not release the poor boy or himself
Will not let you go let me go (never)
The singer stressing they will never let themselves or the poor boy go
Never let you go let me go
The artist is clinging to hope that they would escape and not be caught by the demon or face death without a fight
Never let me go ooo
The singer does not want to be abandoned by everyone, in their final hours
No, no, no, no, no, no, no
Emphasizing that the singer does not want to go
Oh mama mia, mama mia, mama mia let me go
Plea to their mother to let them go
Beelzebub has a devil put aside for me
A devil or demon is ready to take the artist's soul to hell
For me, for me, for me
The devil or demon is solely after the artist, without exception
So you think you can stone me and spit in my eye
The singer's tormentors mistreated him but meets them with dignity and won't be broken by them
So you think you can love me and leave me to die
The singer is ridiculing their oppressors that they believed they will get rid of them by loving and leaving them to despair and death
Oh baby can't do this to me baby
A final plea to the person responsible for the artist's misery not to go through with whatever they have planned
Just gotta get out just gotta get right outta here
The artist cannot stay in this dreadful situation anymore and feels like escaping
Ooh yeah, ooh yeah
An expression of the artist's youthfulness and energy
Nothing really matters
Nothing makes sense anymore, nothing has meaning.
Anyone can see
This feeling is visible to anyone observing the artist
Nothing really matters nothing really matters to me
The singer has given up, with nothing left to live for and a sense of detachment and hopelessness
Anyway the wind blows
Regardless of the situation or outcome, the plan remains the same
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: FREDDIE MERCURY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Matt Hill
There will never be another Freddie but credit to Bruce Dickinson he is one of the few people that can sing this well and capable of hitting every note, demonstrating an amazing vocal range, what a tribute to the amazing Freddie Mercury !!
rezbarchetta
Bruce not only has a magnificent voice but he is an absolute joy to watch live. Love him!!
Shootsant
lucky to hear Bruce singing Bohemian Rhapsody, never thought would hear something like this. Freddie had the most amazing voice ..RIP
Carlos Lazo
Solo unos pocos son dignos de interpretar esta canción. Larga vida a bruce
Matthew Fox
I don't understand why people are trying to compare the two versions, this is first and foremost a tribute, not designed to better than the original. It is simply two fantastic voices showing their respect to a legendary vocalist. UP THE IRONS.
Serge
Bruce's voice here is very dramatic. Wonderful version!🤟🏻
Ruth Roco
A los que critican, Bruce no está tratando de imitar a Freddie, eso es imposible, pero la versión es buena en su estilo único.
Disfrutemos!
Nataly Santos
Bruce não está tentando imitar ,pois logo no início me veio o iron na cabeça ..não o Mercury!
Noelia Jaime Interlandi
claro que no.Es un tributo a freddie.
Carlos Lazo
Quien mierda se atrevería a criticar a bruce dickinson, hay que tener huevos