Fear of the Dark (song)
| "Fear of the Dark (live)" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Iron Maiden | ||||
| from the album A Real Live One | ||||
| B-side |
"Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter (Live)" "Be Quick or Be Dead (Live)" "Tailgunner (Live)" "Hooks in You (Live)" | |||
| Released | 1 March 1993 | |||
| Recorded | 1992 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 7:22 | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Writer(s) | Steve Harris | |||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Fear of the Dark" is a song by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Written by Steve Harris, the band's bass player and primary songwriter, it serves as the title track to Iron Maiden's 1992 album Fear of the Dark.
The single "Fear of the Dark (live)" is the 26th single released by the band. This live version of the song (as well as the live versions of "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter", "Be Quick or Be Dead", and "Tailgunner") are taken from the live album A Real Live One. The single reached number 8 in the UK charts. The live version of "Hooks in You" was recorded at the Wembley Arena, London, UK on 17 December 1990. The initial pressing of the 7" cut-to-shape vinyl picture disc listed Hooks In You (live) as the B-side but actually played Tailgunner (live). This mis-press was quickly corrected by EMI on future pressings.
The song has been covered by German a cappella metal band van Canto on their album Hero, as well as the Italian metal band Graveworm on their 2001 album Scourge of Malice, by the also Italian death metal band Infernal Poetry on their 2005 album Beholding the Unpure and by the Finnish band Sturm und Drang as the bonus track on their 2008 album Rock 'n Roll Children. The song was covered by Fightstar for Kerrang! magazine's Maiden Heaven tribute album.[1]
The Flight 666 version of the song was released as downloadable content for the Rock Band video game series on 9 June 2009.
"Fear of the Dark" was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994 in the "Best Metal Performance" category, but lost to "I Don't Want To Change The World" by Ozzy Osbourne.[2]
When the song is performed live, the audience always sings along to the melody during the soft (and sometimes the heavy) sections, at times becoming louder than the band themselves. It has been featured on all the band's live albums since its release.
The cover features Eddie as Steve himself playing on his bass guitar live on stage.
Lyrics
The song's lyrics tell the story of a man who has always been intensly afraid of the dark. He recalls the many times he has walked alone, and recollections of the feeling of being followed while walking at night.
Track Listing
- "Fear of the Dark (Live)" (Steve Harris) – 7:22
- "Bring Your Daughter... to the Slaughter (Live)" (Bruce Dickinson) – 5:30 (UK CD single digipack)
- "Be Quick or Be Dead (Live)" (Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers) - 3:20 (Holland CD single)
- "Tailgunner (Live)" (Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris) (7" vinyl posterbag)
- "Hooks in You (Live)" (Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith) – 3:45 (all formats except 7" vinyl posterbag)
Formats
- 3-track CD digipack
- 3-track CD
- 2-track 7" vinyl posterbag
- 2-track cut-to-shape vinyl picture disc
Personnel
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Janick Gers –guitar, backing vocals
- Nicko McBrain – drums
Covers
- Graveworm, for their 2001 album Scourge of Malice[3] (often incorrectly attributed to Cradle of Filth or Children of Bodom).
- Alternative rock band Fightstar performed a cover of the song for the Kerrang! "Maiden Heaven" tribute album,.
- It was performed by Chuck Billy, Craig Goldy, Ricky Phillips, and Mikkey Dee for the tribute album Numbers from the Beast.
- Italian Techno Duo DJ Activator and Francesco Zeta covered the song 2008 as a Hardstyle version and released it as a single in Italy.[4]
- The Finnish Metal/Rock band Sturm und Drang performed a cover of this song on their 2008 release "Rock N' Roll Children" as a bonus track [5]
- A cappella metal band Van Canto covered it on their second album Hero.
- Doro Pesch performed with Blaze Bayley on a Classical live version in 2004 at Wacken Open Air with strings and acoustic guitars.[6]
- Justice at Summer Breeze Open Air 2007.
- Pentagram (only live).[7]
- 1200 Micrograms' High Paradise, released on the album Live in Brazil (and remixes of it on others) features this song heavily.
- Colombian Black Gothic Metal band Ethereal performed a cover of the song for the album Shroud of Flesh released in 2000.
Chart performance
| Chart (1993) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[8] | 6 |
| Irish Singles Chart | 17[9] |
| UK Singles Chart | 8[10] |
References
- ↑ "Maiden Heaven - A Tribute to Iron Maiden". Kerrang!. Retrieved 28 February 2014.
- ↑ "Grammy Awards: Best Metal Performance". Rock on the Net. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
- ↑ Encyclopaedia Metallum - Graveworm (Ita) - Scourge of Malice
- ↑ DJ Activator - Fear of the Dark on YouTube
- ↑ Sturm Und Drang - Fear of the Dark on YouTube
- ↑ Blaze Bayley and Doro Pesch - Fear of the Dark on YouTube
- ↑ Pentagram - Fear Of The Dark (Live in Izmir) on YouTube
- ↑ Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
- ↑ "Irish singles archive". IRMA. irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 14 October 2011.
- ↑ "Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive 13 March 1993". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 17 October 2011.
