Iron Maiden - Afraid To Shoot Strangers (Live at Donington 1992) - [Subtitle - English]

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Iron Maiden - Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Live at Donington 1992
Fear Of The Dark Tour 92'
Álbum: Fear of the Dark (1992)

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Segundo Bruce, esta música é sobre a Guerra do Golfo, sobre guerras que são iniciadas por políticos e finalizadas por pessoas comuns, que na verdade não querem matar ninguém. A letra trata de como funciona a cabeça do soldado ao se preparar para uma batalha, suas dúvidas, seus medos, principalmente o de atirar em estranhos.
A Guerra do Golfo (1990-1991) foi iniciada após Saddam Hussein ordenar que o Kuwait fosse invadido por questões petrolíferas, os países do ocidente (EUA principalmente) não gostaram nada da situação - porque eles teriam problemas com os preços do petróleo - e com o aval da ONU, uniram-se para parar o Iraque. A guerra acabou em 28 de fevereiro de 1991, e com o sucesso da operação Tempestade no Deserto, o Kuwait foi liberado.
Este trecho da música: "The reign of terror corruption must end... And we know deep down there's no other way..." é um tanto discutível. Harris afirma que "O reino do terror tem que acabar e no fundo sabemos que não há outra alternativa".

A Guerra do Golfo é claramente uma guerra pelos interesses dos países ricos pelo petróleo. O Iraque era parceiro dos EUA poucos anos antes, e a família Bush tinha negócios com a família Bin Laden, então havia uma parceria, então acho que chamá-los de reino do terror é um tanto hipócrita para um inglês. E, porque de repente o mundo achou necessária a intervenção a favor do Kuwait? Tadinho! A questão era árabe, ninguém tinha que ir lá se intrometer. Mas... [pt-BR]

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This song was written about the people that fought in the Gulf War. It's a song about how shitty war is, and how shitty war is that it's started by politicians and has to be finished by ordinary people that don't really want to kill anybody. ''(Bruce Dickinson - 22nd August 1992)

Unlike most war songs that usually deal with the combat itself, like 'The Trooper', or with its terrible consequences, like 'The Aftermath' or Metallica's 'One', 'Afraid To Shoot Strangers' takes us into the mind of a soldier preparing for battle. Although he is nothing but an anonymous element of the powerful tool used by the government of his country and known as the Army, he remains human, with his feelings and his doubts. He's "trying to visualise the horrors that will lay ahead", the main one being the fact that he probably will have to kill (hence, "afraid to shoot strangers").

These verses are probably the worst written since those of 'Quest For Fire', with the dinosaurs walking the earth at the same time as Man. Not only in retrospect, but even at the time, it was obvious that the First Gulf War was not about ending a dictatorship, but about protecting (and controlling) the crude oil drilling in Kuwait. There's a "reign of terror, corruption" in many other countries, but no one is interested enough in ending any of them in any way. Steve's lyrics sound here like the headlines of The Sun or any other disgustingly jingoistic tabloid "trying to justify to [the gullible population] the reasons to go." It is obvious that the use of force can be necessary in certain situations and that "we know deep down there's no other way", but in the case of this particular war, such justification doesn't stand a close examination of the real reasons to engage in a conflict. What is a fantastic song musically is quite sadly somehow ruined by lyrics that seem to condone a rather dubious international action. ''

'Fear of the Dark' is the ninth studio album released by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It topped the UK albums chart. Released on 11 May 1992, it was the final studio album to feature Bruce Dickinson as lead vocalist who left the band following the album's support tour to pursue a solo career. He was succeeded by Blaze Bayley, formerly of Wolfsbane, for two studio albums until Dickinson returned to Iron Maiden for the 2000 release of Brave New World. [ENG]