The Edge of Darkness
1995 · EMI 7243 8 35819 1 7 · UK: England
- Artist
- Iron Maiden
- Title
- The Edge of Darkness
- Release
- The X Factor
- Year
- 1995
- Label
- EMI # 7243 8 35819 1 7
- Format
- LP · Album
- Language
- English
- Country
- UK: England
- Songwriter
- Blaze Bayley/Janick Gers/Steve Harris
- Genre
- Rock · Heavy Metal
- Primary theme
- Post-War
Annotation
Influential Heavy Metal brand, formed on 25 December 1975 in Leyton, East London, UK. With a revolving line-up, it was primarily lead by songwriter and bass player Steve Harris - born 12 March 1956 in Leytonstone, London, UK. The song "The Edge of Darkness" (EMI # 7243 8 35819 1 7) partly takes its name from the Joseph Conrad book Heart of Darkness (first published in 1899) and later used by film director Francis Ford Coppola for his portrayal of the Vietnam conflict and the insanity of war in the 1979 film Apocalypse Now. Iron Maiden include lines from the film: "for a week I have been waiting, still I am only in Saigon...I feel the jungle call me on... The colonel's gone rogue and his methods are unsound... your mission - exterminate with extreme prejudice". The album did fairly well in the UK, reaching # 8 in the charts. In the US it reached # 147 in the Billboard 200 album chart.1Sources1Wikipedia: The X Factor (album)↩
Annotation by Justin A. Brummer
Lyrics
English: I've looked into the heart of darkness / Where the blood-red journey ends / When you've faced the heart of darkness / Even your soul begins to bend / For a week I have been waiting / Still I am only in Saigon / The walls move in a little closer / I feel the jungle call me on / Every minute I get weaker / While in the jungle they grow strong / What I wanted was a mission / And for my sins they gave me one / They brought it up just like room service / 'Cause everyone gets what they want / And when that mission was all over / I'd never want another one / I know, captain, that you've done this work before / We've got a problem, you can help us all I'm sure / The colonel's gone rogue and his methods are unsound / You'll take a PBR upriver, track him down / There's a conflict in every human heart / And the temptation is to take it all too far / In this war, things get so confused / But there are some things which cannot be excused / He's acting like a God, an insane lunatic / Your mission, terminate with extreme prejudice / The route is dangerous and your progress may be slow / Here is the file and it's all you need to know / Oh / Oh / Here I am, the knife in my hand / And now I understand why the genius must die / Now I stand alone in the darkness / With his blood upon my hands / Where sat the warrior, the poet / Now lie the fragments of a man / I've looked into the heart of darkness / Where the blood-red journey ends / When you've faced the heart of darkness / Even your…
About the artist
English heavy metal band formed 1975 in London. [Source: Wikipedia]