Iron Maiden - 2 Minutes To Midnight - Meaning of the song
Bruce Dickinson explained:
"It's about the romance of war, and how we're all repelled and fascinated by it at the same time."
The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, which was created in 1947 by the magazine Bulletin Of Atomic Sciences. It was set at 7 minutes to midnight, indicating that due to the threat of nuclear war, the world was running out of time. As tensions escalated over the years, the clock was moved forward, but has been set back several times as treaties are signed and the threat decreases. In 1958, the United States and Soviet Union were both testing hydrogen bombs, and the clock was moved up to 11:58 - the closest it ever got to midnight.
Steve Harris does not have the composer credit on this song - Adrian Smith and Bruce Dickinson both share it. This is one of the few Iron Maiden songs where Harris' name is not given on the composer credit.
2 Minutes To Midnight - Lyrics
Kill for gain or shoot to maim But we don't need a reason The Golden Goose is on the loose And never out of season Blackened pride still burns inside This shell of bloody treason Here's my gun for a barrel of fun For the love of living death The killer's breed or the Demon's seed The glamour, the fortune, the pain Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain Don't you pray for my soul anymore? 2 minutes to midnight The hands that threaten doom 2 minutes to midnight To kill the unborn in the womb The blind men shout "Let the creatures out We'll show the unbelievers." The napalm screams of human flames Of a prime time Belsen feast ... yeah! As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies The killer's breed or the Demon's seed The glamour, the fortune, the pain Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain Don't you pray for my soul anymore 2 minutes to midnight The hands that threaten doom 2 minutes to midnight To kill the unborn in the womb The body bags and little rags of children torn in two And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun The killer's breed or the Demon's seed The glamour, the fortune, the pain Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain Don't you pray for my soul anymore 2 minutes to midnight The hands that threaten doom 2 minutes to midnight To kill the unborn in the womb Midnight Midnight Midnight It's all night Midnight Midnight Midnight It's all night
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