The Alchemist Lyrics

Lyric discussion by EdSmith 

Cover art for The Alchemist lyrics by Iron Maiden

TimeWeaver is spot on but one thing does confuse me

"My dreams of empire for my frozen queen"

I know dee was the first to advocate a brittish empire which did happen but frozen queen? Queen Elizabeth I went by many names but I don't get that one.

John Dee acted as consultant to Queen Elizabeth I of England. It is very likely that the song lyrics refer to her as "frozen" because Queen Elizabeth never married, and is sometimes referred to as "The Virgin Queen." There is much speculation surrounding why she never married; perhaps it was because she was afraid of losing her power, but there is also speculation that she may have been sexually abused by Thomas Seymour, which, in turn, may have made her wary of sexual relations. This is just speculation. There is a lot of debate on the...

@EdSmith Late to the party I know, but I was just reading a great biography on Dr. Dee (The Queen's Conjurer), and the "frozen Queen" line in particular jumped out at me. The book detail at length that while Dr. Dee was advising and frequently visiting (or visited by) Queen Elizabeth I, he was also involved in (teaching astronomical navigation calculation techniques) both England's expansive search for the Northwestern Passage and personally convincing the Queen that it was a worthy endeavor and that England would rule the north. The areas they were exploring were all basically iceburgs and scantily frozen...

@EdSmith

Bruce is referring to the Cult of the Immortal Queen here. It refers to an occult secret society that is very real and has many rich and powerful members. Doctor Who did a riff on the cult of the Immortal Queen in the Tom Baker years called "The Pirate Planet". That's all I'm going to say.