Iron Maiden Songs - Tailgunner Lyrics

Iron Maiden - Tailgunner

Iron Maiden - Tailgunner Lyrics and Youtube Music Videos

Album: No Prayer For the Dying
Released: 1990

Tailgunner Lyrics

Trace your way back 50 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 whet the blood thirst
No radar lock on, skin and bone
The bomber boys are going home

[Chorus: x2]
Climb into the sky never wonder why, Tailgunner
You're a tailgunner

Nail that fucker kill that son.
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
The weather forecast's good for war
Cologne and Frankfurt? Have some more|
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)

[Chorus]

Writer/s: DICKINSON, BRUCE / HARRIS, STEPHEN PERCY
Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

Tailgunner

A sequel to Maiden's 1984 song "Aces High." It depicts the battle from another perspective. It was co-written by Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris.

Contains the harshest profanity Iron Maiden has ever used in their song lyrics- the F-word.

Bruce Dickinson: "The title came from a porno movie about anal sex. Then I thought, well I can't write the lyrics about that, so I write it about real tailgunners. I had some words which began 'Trace your way back fifty years, to the glow of Dresden, blood and tears.' I know we shouldn't mention the war but it's about the attitude of bombing people. It was real death in the skies back then. But there aren't any tailgunners on planes anymore, it's all done by computers using missiles. At least it used to be man-on-man, but now it's machine-on-machine. Who uses bullets anymore?"

The first track off the album, it featured Dickinson imitating former vocalist Paul Di'Anno 's raspy singing style.

Dickinson sang the word "Fokker" (a plane term) in a way that sounded very similar to the popular expletive.

For the album that accompanied the release of the Iron Maiden computer game Ed Hunter, "Tailgunner," appropriately enough, was the last track- at the tail end. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for all above)