Moonchild

THIS IS MY MEGA METAL MENTALITY ON THIS MASTERPIECE

Ok. This song is the opening title for the album "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son". This album is a concept album that follows the life of the seventh son of a seventh son. In ancient times, this person was regarded to have powers such as clairvoyance. The character in the album expresses that he does not want these powers and that he never asked for them, however, he must live with them. He must pick which side he desires: the good or the evil, which path will he take (Seventh Son of a Seventh Son song lyrics). In this song, Moonchild, the person talking is the "devil" character.
"I am he the bornless one The fallen angel watching you Babylon, the scarlet whore I'll infiltrate your gratitude Don't you dare to save your son Kill him now and save the young ones Be the mother of a birth strangled babe Be the devils own, Lucifer's my name"

The devil wants the mother to kill her child (strangling him) so that the seventh son will not grow and defeat Lucifer, the devil character.

"I count the heads of those unborn The accursed ones I'll find them all And if you die by your own hand As a suicide you shall be damned And if you try to save your soul I will torment you - you shall not grow old With every second and passing breath You'll be so alone your soul will bleed to death"

Lucifer is saying he will kill all of the Seventh Sons. When he is talking about suicide, he is saying that if the Son kills himself, he will be damned to a life in hell. If he tries to escape the devil's hold, he will be tormented and tortured by the devil forever.

"The twins they are exhausted, seven is this night Gemini is rising as the red lips kiss to bite Seven angels seven demons battle for his soul When Gabriel lies sleeping, this child was born to die"

The twins, I believe refer to the Gemini astrological sign as mentioned in the next line. The seven angels and seven demons represent the question of whether he will choose to do good or evil. Gabriel is a reference to the angel from the bible who delivered Mary the news that she would give birth to Jesus. Since Gabriel is sleeping, there is no one to deliver the news. Therefore, the child will not die.

"One more dies one more lives One baby cries one mother grieves For all the sins you will commit You'll beg forgiveness and none I'll give A web of fear shall be your coat To clothe you in the night A lucky escape for you young man But I'll see you damned in endless night"

I believe this is the devil once more speaking about how the mother must kill the Seventh Son. When Harris (the writer) is speaking about all the sins the Son will commit and how he will beg for forgiveness but receive none, I believe, is saying that when the Son does wrong to the devil, but then comes crawling back for forgiveness, the devil will not take him and will damn him to hell. This web of fear is possibly referring to how the devil will torment and frighten the Son due to the fact that the son escaped his grasp and escaped him. Harris is then saying that the Son's escape was very lucky, but the devil will one day find him and make the Son wish he stayed with the devil.

I hope I have helped :) UP THE IRONS!

The whole album is in reference to the book "Seventh Son of a Seventh Son" by Orson Scott Card. Though I read some places that say only 5-8 tracks are part of the concept, the connections between this song and the book are PERFECT.

Obvious references to the birth of Alvin Maker, the seventh son of a seventh son from the orson scott card novel. "Don't you dare to save your son Kill him now and save the young ones Be the mother of a birth strangled babe Be the devils own, Lucifer's my name" The mother is pregnant with the child and one of her sons has to sacrifice himself to save her and the baby "The twins they are exhausted, seven is this night" Older twin brothers of the seventh son helped to save the family. "One more dies one more lives One baby cries one mother grieves" after the baby is born the oldest son, Vigor, dies soon after, the mother grieves over the death of her son.

The whole album is a concept.

Moonchild- Lucifer comes to warn the parents of the Seventh Son, basically saying that all resistance is futile. Infinite Dreams- The Father of the Seventh Son, him self a Seventh Son, begins to have dreams that confuse him. Can I Play With Madness- The Father seeks a prophet for an answer to his strange visions. The Evil That Men Do- The Seventh Son is conceived, but the details in this song are very vague. Seventh Son of a Seventh Son- The Seventh Son is born, and begins to show signs of supernatural powers. The Prophecy- The Seventh Son learns that he is "The Chosen One", and part of a prophecy. The Clairvoyant- The Seventh Son begins to harness his powers, but loses control. This is probably the cause of his death. Only The Good Die Young- The Seventh Son is dead, and the cycle begins again. This may be a sentiment on how mankind is inable to learn from it's mistakes.

This is interesting... Iron Maiden aren't afraid to talk about the devil like this... just look at "The Number of the Beast"... I like how they can do this without taking the unholy black metal route (i.e. incorporating blasphemy against God). That's part of why I like Maiden. Up the Irons!!!!!!

I grew up as a lover of Hard Rock and Heavy Metal in the 80s and parts of the song made me think that they referenced Christ. The line that has Lucifer tempting the mother to kill her son to save the young ones seemed to refer to the fact that Herod had all children under 2 years old killed in the Bethlehem area when he heard of the birth of the Messiah. But, of course, Mary was not tempted to do so. Also, the reference to Gabriel who was the messenger of the birth of Christ is mentioned. And I thought the lucky escape was due to Christ not succumbing to the devil's temptations and the last one being to fling himself from the top of the temple or mountain top whichever gospel you reference. But now I hear of the book 7th Son of a 7th Son so I will have to check it out. As an aside, Nicko McBrain is a very devout Christian. And I like how the end of the song has whoever they are writing about escape the clutches of the evil one.

i dontbelieave nyone hasnt posted... this is one kick ass song... how come people dont have any taste for good music anymore???

I have taste in good music. And this is one of my favorite Maiden songs....

Oh that's right... people are too busy posting in Avril Lavigne and Dashboard Confessional.

yea, i just got the book a few days and it makes alot more sense to me. its a gr8 book as well