Iron Maiden-8.The Mercenary(Strasbourg,France 2000)

Iron Maiden - Festival Des Artefact, Strasbourg, France, June 2, 2000, during the '' Brave New World Tour '' 2000-2002. The Mercenary (Gers, Harris) Bruce Dickinson:Vocals Steve Harris:Bass Janick Gers:Guitar Dave Murray:Guitar Adrian Smith:Guitar Nicko McBrain:Drums [Lyrics] Pay to kill, die to lose, hunted, hunter which are you Diablo come again to make trophies out of men Lose your skin, lose your skull, one by one the sack is full In the heat dehydrate, know which breath will be your last Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you've got to kill to stay alive Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you've got to kill to stay alive Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Human heart, human mind, intellect intertwined Focus sharp in the night, watch the jungle burning bright Toe to toe throw the line, everyone's caught hand tied Iron will iron fist, how could it have come to this? Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you've got to kill to stay alive Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide, you've got to kill to stay alive Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain Show them no fear, show them no pain ................................. ''The Mercenary'' is a song from the twelfth studio album ''Brave New World'' by Iron Maiden, released on 30 May 2000. ''That's a good solid track not a huge amount to say except that they're mercenaries and they're generally a bad thing; they're generally cruel and heartless fiends who cynically kill people for money. A fairly conventional tuneful Maiden rocker comparable to a sort of 'Die With Your Boots On' type thing. '' (Bruce Dickinson) According to Bruce, the song is basically about a bounty hunter, but they apparently didn't want to call it 'The Bounty Hunter', probably because 'The Mercenary' sounded better as a title for this song. The lyric are in the same vein as those of 'The Assassin', about somebody who hunts and kills for a living. It was brought to my attention that the lyrics were maybe based on the 1987 film Predator, with Arnold Schwarzenegger. In this film, a creature called "Diablo" by the natives is hunting down humans in some South American jungle to "make trophies out out of men". All this seems to make sense, but as none of the band members has mentioned this in any interview I've read, I doubt that the film actually inspired the song. ''Brave New World'' is the twelfth studio album by Iron Maiden, released on 30 May 2000 (see 2000 in music). It marked the return of longtime lead singer Bruce Dickinson and guitarist Adrian Smith to the band, who left in 1990, replaced by Janick Gers. It was also the band's first studio recording with three guitar players, as Gers stayed with the band after Smith's return. The album art and title song are references to the novel of the same name written by Aldous Huxley.