Echoes of Empire: Iron Maiden's Critique of Imperialism

Abstract

The discography of Iron Maiden also criticizes the devastating effects of imperialism using striking historical accounts, making the subjects of the oppressed human and the hopelessness of the empire visible. Songs such as "Run to the Hills" abhor Native American displacement by settler colonialism, and songs such as The Trooper praise Crimean War folly in the Charge of the Light Brigade. Paschendale regretting the horrors of the trenches in World War I and Alexander the Great following the hubris in the conquests of olden days, both are predating imperial conflicts. In the contemporary resonances, modern themes can be seen in the themes of Blood Brothers and For the Greater Good of God where the author condemns the cycles of violence, propaganda and power greediness in both the ancient hordes and the modern day wars. Combined with galloping riffs, the lyrics of Steve Harris promote the anti-imperial sympathy during the period of patriotic NWOBHM (New Wave of British Heavy Metal). It examines important songs, repetitive motifs of wasted glory and victimization, and historical conditions, which establishes Maiden as metal historians, as they have deconstructed the myths of conquest and the long-term shadows of imperialism.