In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
Trace your way back fifty years
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
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
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Great version of a great song,
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This song appears to be about the fire bombing raids on German cities but is in fact about the band coming out about being gay.
"Trace your way back 50 years To the glow of Dresden - blood and tears"
Dresden is considered the birthplace of the gay movement in mainland Europe. The glow of Dresden was the light of Nazi power eradicating gays along with other minorities and of course resulting in blood and tears.
"In the black above by the cruel searchlight Men will die and men will fight - yeah"
The black represents the emptiness and lack of acceptance in common society being gay. The cruel searchlight is society and it's prejudice.
"Who shot who and who fired first? Dripping death to whet the bloodthirst"
The dripping death represents the HIV infected semen dripping from an anus. The AIDS epidemic was blamed on homosexuals. The who fired first line refers to the ludicrous rumours about who had sex with a monkey first.
"No radar lock on - skin and bone The bomber boys are going home"
Only in the dark unlit room, away from societies eyes could the gay man get down to skin and bone. The bomber boys are the gay community. They are going home to Germany after the war now that the fascists no longer hold power.
"Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner You're a Tailgunner"
This one is self explanatory and Maiden answer the question of whether being gay is a choice. Bruce Dickenson says no with the line "never wonder why". Climbing into the sky represents the joy in homosexual sex. Tailgunner is a mantra and acceptance of being homosexual. Tailgunner is a common term for a gay man.
"Nail that fokker kill that son. Gonna blow your guts out with my gun"
This is a line written from the point of view of the bigot. The meaning being that gay men can't control themselves and will nail other men at the first chance they get. Even so far as having sex with young boys and killing them with AIDS. The second line is rather graphic and depicts a gay man ejaculating semen deep inside his partner and thus "blowing his guts out with my gun".
"The weather forecast's good for war Cologne and Frankfurt? Have some more"
Tha gay man always wears nice smelling Cologne and is always eager for more Frankfurt (read: wiener).
"Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky The Enola Gay was my last try"
Tail end Charlie is another name for the gay man. The Enola Gay was also the name of a famous Transvestite from Dresden who had a cult following in the late 70's.
"Now that this Tailgunner's gone No more bombers (just one big bomb)"
The gay man has succumbed to the AIDS virus and there is only one big bomb left. This bomb is AIDS.
You are wrong. This has got nothing to do with gay people and AIDS.<br /> <br /> "Trace your way back 50 years<br /> To the glow of Dresden - blood and tears"<br /> Dresden was a German city that was completly obliterated by RAF and USAF bombs Febuary 13th-Febuary 15th 1945. It is famous in history and still raises alot of debate as to whether it crossed the line of human cruelty to kill so many people-there were around 25,000 civilian casaulties .Hence 'the glow' as the city was first illumniated with 650,000 lbs of firebombs to light the way for hundreds of 40,000lb bombs.<br /> <br /> <br /> "In the black above by the cruel searchlight<br /> Men will die and men will fight - yeah"<br /> RAF bomber command normally did their bomber sorties by night (whilst the USAF did them by day) so this refers to a nightime bomber sortie being saught by anti-aircraft searchlights.<br /> <br /> "Who shot who and who fired first?<br /> Dripping death to whet the bloodthirst"<br /> Simply made to rhyme reffering to the bloodthirsty adreneline there is in operating a gun against enemy fighters. Especially in the speed of air-air combat is was hard to know who had fired the first shot and who had been shot.<br /> <br /> "No radar lock on - skin and bone<br /> The bomber boys are going home"<br /> Simply what it means- aircraft in those days aircraft didn't have radar lock on to enemy target just gun sights on the end of their machine gun, bullets, flesh and blood.<br /> <br /> <br /> "Climb into the sky never wonder why - Tailgunner<br /> You're a Tailgunner"<br /> The Tailgunner, not being the responsible for pilot, navigator or bombardier had one simple job- to fire his weapon to defend the aircraft. Hence the 'never wonder why' because the tailgunner didnt know much about the navigational details of the flight because that wasn't his job.<br /> <br /> "Nail that fokker kill that son.<br /> Gonna blow your guts out with my gun"<br /> Fokker could reffer to the FOCKE-wolf 190 a fighter aircraft used by Nazi Germany often in the late stages of the war to intercept bombers of Germany. It's a word that fits into the song well. The second line is the trigger happy attitude of somebody pumped with adreneline-afraid for their lives in combat.<br /> <br /> "The weather forecast's good for war<br /> Cologne and Frankfurt? Have some more"<br /> Colonge and Frankfurt were also cities in Germany that were heavily bombed by allied bomber aircraft.<br /> <br /> "Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky<br /> The Enola Gay was my last try"<br /> Tail end Charlie was a British nickname for the tailgunner of the aircraft. The Enola Gay was 'my last try' because it was the name of the B29 bomber aircraft that dropped the first ever atom bomb 'little boy' on Hiroshima in 1945, it was soon after this that the Japanese surrendered and World War 2 was over.<br /> <br /> "Now that this Tailgunner's gone<br /> No more bombers (just one big bomb)"<br /> The first line can refer to the tailgunner dying in combat, before the end of the war which was partly ended by the 'one big bomb' atom bomb.<br /> <br /> Darkenrahl your interpretations by the end are bordering stupidity to be frank. The lyrics mean what they mean you can make anything appear as gay innuendo if you read too far into it. Furthermore Iron Maiden are all just about as heterosexual as you get, judging by some of their songs and the fact most of them are married with kids. Bruce Dickinson himself has 3 kids born in 1990, 1992 and 1994. Pretty much the rift in his time with Iron Maiden between when he left and rejoined. Part of the reason leaving was to help raise his young children. I love Iron Maiden, I love Bruce Dickinson, in a non-sexual manly way. It IS possible, for 'love' and adoration of somebody of the same sex to not be sex related in the slightest, and the same goes for a song- not all songs are sexual innuendos. <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />
That is some messed up, sick shit, man. You need to take a long shower, and wash all the filth off you, man. Your own mother will shake her head, and wonder where the hell she went wrong with you. I have few gay friends, (insert homo joke now), but at least they have the good sense to shut the hell up about they're experiences. If your trying to get a rise out of metal heads, cos you like the spice girls, or ricky martin, or david hasselhoff, good for you. But, shit, man. Easy on the weirdness. You're just confirming what we all know...That your a sick puppy that still lives in his mothers basement, jacking off at posters of moviestars, thinking your the shit. Take your weekly allowance, and go buy some class. Or a clue. That shit about 'gay guys always wear cologne, and smell nice' tells us about your social status. So go buy some 'cologne' its friday. And try not to get yourself killed out there...
Ten bucks says you are a faggot