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Iron Maiden, Fear Of The Dark, 1992
02. Childhood's End [4:37] (Harris)
I'd sail across the ocean, I'd walk a hundred miles
If I could make it to the end oh just to see a smile
You see it in their faces, the sadness in their tears
The desperation and the anger, madness and the fear
No hope, no life, just pain and fear
No food, no love, just greed is here
Starvation and the hunger, the suffering and the pain
The agonies of all-out war, when will it ever end?
The struggle for the power, a tyrant tries again
Just what the hell is going on? When will it ever end?
No hope, no life, just pain and fear
No food, no love, just greed is here
(2:46 – Solo: Janick Gers)
(3:04 – Solo: Dave Murray)
You see the full moon float, you watch the red sun rise
We take these things for granted but somewhere someone's dying
Contaminated waters, pollution and decay
Just waiting for disease to strike oh will we learn someday?
No hope, no life, just pain and fear
No food, no love, no seed... Childhood's end!
Although it has the same title as an Arthur C. Clarke novel (1953) or a Marillion song on their 1985 album Misplaced Childhood, the song is actually unrelated to either of them. Whereas Clarke's story is about an alien species that comes to Earth to prevent Man from travelling to the stars by enslaving him in a society of entertainment and shallow pleasures, and Fish's text deals with the end of a comfortable childhood and the beginning of a responsible adult life, Iron Maiden's song is about all the terrible suffering, pain, injustice, and fear in the world. The lyrics summon those terrible images of children dying of starvation in countries where the leaders do not care for their people, and stress the fact that humans cannot remain children for long on this this planet due either to "natural" catastrophes engineered by man or simply to pointless wars that lead whole countries to ruin.
Pretty much everything about this song is excellent – it is among the best songs on the album and has all the makings of a classic. Strangely however, Maiden haven't played it live in concert.
