In a recent interview with Revolver magazine, Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson revealed his choice for the single greatest track he’s ever written.
During the chat, conducted by longtime Revolver writer Dan Epstein, the singer was asked to name what he considers to be his finest composition. His unexpected response pointed to ‘Tears of the Dragon,’ a track from his 1994 solo album, ‘Balls to Picasso.’ Dickinson discussed:
“I would say ‘Tears of the Dragon’ [from Dickinson’s 1994 solo album, ‘Balls to Picasso’] — ’cause I don’t know what it means. But it means something. That song really affects people. It affects me.”
Unraveling The Mystery
Further reflecting on what this track means so much to him, he continued:
“I do know what it’s about: It’s about abandonment, not being abandoned, but abandoning yourself to the universe, to whatever is gonna come next. But I still don’t know why it is ‘the tears of the dragon.’ I’ve never figured that out. It works and it means something, but I don’t know what it is. And that’s why it’s great.”
Dickinson’s song ‘Tears of the Dragon’ is his most popular solo track, with over 50 million plays on Spotify. This is more than five times the number of plays of any of his other solo songs on the platform. The song starts with a soft acoustic melody, followed by Dickinson’s emotional singing, which builds up to his powerful belting in the chorus.
Other Reflections On Past Works
This revelation adds a new layer to Bruce’s previous comments on his solo discography. During a Q&A session in 2022, Dickinson highlighted his favorite solo albums, explaining:
“You know what, I like them all for various reasons. I thought ‘The Chemical Wedding ‘was probably the most generally accepted, like groundbreaking one. That was really like, ‘Whoa, that’s really cool.’ But ‘Tyranny of Souls ‘has got some great stuff on it. I’m actually a really big fan of ‘Skunkworks ‘as well. There are a lot of people like ‘That’s different,’ but it has got some f*cking amazing stuff on it.”
Dickinson’s latest solo album is called ‘The Mandrake Project,’ released on March 1, 2024. It’s his seventh studio album. Bruce shared songwriting duties with Roy Z for this album. This marks his first solo release in almost twenty years, since ‘Tyranny of Souls’ in 2005, making it the longest wait between his solo studio albums.
