Iron Maiden - Wasted Years - Meaning of the song
"Wasted Years" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the band's fourteenth single released and the first from their sixth studio album, Somewhere in Time (1986).
Adrian Smith recalled his reluctance to share this song with bassist and principal songwriter Steve Harris as he thought it was too commercial. "I was messing around with a little four-track and I'd just put that riff down for 'Wasted Years'," he said. "I was playing Steve some other stuff and I played it to him by accident and he said, 'What's that?' I said, 'You probably won't like this as it's so commercial,' but he really liked it and insisted we do it. So something you'd think he wouldn't want to do, he does."
The song deals with subject of homesickness and alienation, as well as the negative aspects of the band's nearly year long previous tour and personal problems that Smith and other band members were going through in that period. At the same time the chorus suggests the idea that one should move beyond past troubles and look forward. The original working title was "Golden Years", as can be heard on numerous Somewhere on Tour bootlegs.
Wasted Years - Lyrics
From the coast of gold across the seven seas
I'm travellin' on far and wide
But now it seems
I'm just a stranger to myself
And all the things I sometimes do
It isn't me but someone else
I close my eyes, and think of home
Another city goes by in the night
Ain't it funny how it is
You never miss it 'til it's gone away
And my heart is lying there
And will be 'til my dying day
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up... make your stand
And realise you're living in the golden years
Too much time on my hands, I got you on my mind
Can't ease this pain so easily
When you can't find the words to say
It's hard to make it through another day
And it makes me wanna cry
And throw my hands up to the sky
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up... make your stand
And realise you're living in the golden years
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up... make your stand
And realise you're living in the golden years
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years
Face up... make your stand
And realise you're living in the golden years
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