Open thread for Sunday, May 3rd: ‘The Number of the Beast’

  Here is the open thread for Sunday, May 3rd. Please feel free to post links to interesting articles and to discuss whatever issues arise during the course of the day. Nothing is off-topic here.

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  I hope you all are wide awake and have had your coffee this morning but if you are still a little blurry-eyed perhaps the band coming in at number 7 on the countdown of my favorite bands will help to jar you awake. Sticking with last week’s theme, heavy metal band Iron Maiden comes in this week at number 7. 

  Iron Maiden is not your typical metal band lyric-wise as they often write about historical events, WWI, WWII, Greek mythology, literature, and much more. They could be considered a thinking man’s metal band because many of their songs are based on previous writings and historical events. 

  Up first is “Two Minutes to Midnight” which is of course a reference to the Doomsday Clock:

“Blood is freedom’s stain”

 Next up is a song about the Battle of Britain, it is entitled “Aces High” and includes an into with part of the iconic speech Winston Churchill gave to the British people when the Germans were attacking during WWII.

  The third video I have decided to include is one of my favorite Iron Maiden songs and it is about a man on death row as he deals with his fate, it is entitled “Hallowed be thy Name.”

Mark my words believe my soul lives on
Don’t worry now that I have gone
I’ve gone beyond to seek the truth

When you know that your time is close at hand
Maybe then you’ll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion

   And lastly I give you the title track from “The Number of the Beast.” This song and album is interesting because at the time of its release it was quite controversial in the United States. The same country which was born on the  concept of the freedom of speech and on the freedom of religion seemed to have turned on those ideals when some groups labeled the band Satan worshipers and called for the burning of this album. The song was actually inspired by a nightmare bassist Steve Harris had after watching Damien: The Omen II.