Iron Strikes Twice(Hamilton,Canada 1998)

Iron Maiden - Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, June 28, 1998, during the ’’ Virtual XI World Tour’’ 1998. Lightning Strikes Twice (Murray, Harris) Blaze Bayley:Vocals Steve Harris:Bass Janick Gers:Guitar Dave Murray:Guitar Nicko McBrain:Drums [Lyrics] I feel the breeze on my face in expectance Not very long before the storm reaches here Off in the distance the lightning flashing again Feel something strong as the power draws near Is it the rolling of thunder that scares you Is it the crashing of clouds that hold fear But all I know as I sit in a corner alone It takes me back to my childhood again And as I wait and I look for an answer To all the things going round in my head I ask myself could it be a disaster and when It’s maybe threatening to happen again As the ominous light draws near there’s a lone dog howls in the park All the people hurry inside as a lightning flash lights dark The storm is nearly here, only God will know You’re sitting alone you watch as the wind is blowing treetops And the swaying rustling leaves, plenty of time to perceive As you wait for rain to fall, only God knows, the whole sky glows Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice Only God knows, the whole sky glows Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice, Maybe lightning strikes twice, maybe lightning strikes twice ................................... ’Lightning Strikes Twice’ is a song from Iron Maiden’s album ’’Virtual XI ’’,released in 1998. ’’This started as an initial idea of Davey’s and we just picked it up from there and worked it into a complete song together. I wrote the lyrics after coming up with the words for the chorus during the arranging of the music with Dave. He liked the idea of the title so I wrote the lyrics around that. ’’ (Steve Harris) On the surface ’Lightning Strikes Twice’ is about an approaching thunderstorm, and the music does justice to this concept with its slow and quiet start which soon bursts into powerful guitar chords for the verses and choruses. But the chorus “maybe lightning strikes twice“ seems to hint at a deeper meaning to the song. It is said that lightning never strikes the same place twice, and to suggest that maybe it will is perhaps a statement about fate and hope. Lightning being generally used as an ominous sign, it is also likely that the narrator feels another crisis coming up in his life, one he had to face already in the past and that is about to reoccur “And as I wait and I look for an answer to all the things going round in my head I ask myself could it be a disaster and when it’s maybe threatening to happen again.“ Like many good songs, the meaning is open to personal interpretation, and the song itself is excellent. Lightning is a powerful natural electrostatic discharge produced during a thunderstorm. Lightning’s abrupt electric discharge is accompanied by the emission of visible light and other forms of electromagnetic radiation. The electric current passing through the discharge channels rapidly heats and expands the air into plasma, producing acoustic shock waves (thunder) in the atmosphere. ’Virtual XI’ (pronounced: Virtual Eleven) is the 11th studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The album was released on March 23, 1998. It was the second and final Iron Maiden album recorded with vocalist Blaze Bayley. The album is slightly unusual in the Iron Maiden catalogue for its extensive keyboard use. For this album all the keyboard parts were performed by bandfounder / bassist Steve Harris whereas on previous albums the keyboard parts were handled by session musician Michael Kenney. The album also had a reduced songwriting input from Janick Gers compared to the previous Iron Maiden albums since he joined the band in 1990. Just like the tour of The X Factor album, the tour for this album was cut short when Bayley suffered from an allergic reaction caused by certain elements used on the stage.