Charlotte the Harlot

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Charlotte the Harlot is the name of a song and a (presumably fictional) character who features in four tracks by the heavy metal group Iron Maiden.

[edit] Song appearances

• On the self titled Iron Maiden Charlotte made her debut appearance in the song "Charlotte the Harlot", composed by guitarist Dave Murray.
• Her second song was "22 Acacia Avenue" from The Number of the Beast (this time composed by Steve Harris and Adrian Smith). The title refers to the residence of Charlotte the Harlot and is a clear sequel where Charlotte is convinced to end her prostitution. The header for the lyrics in the album booklet state 'the continuing saga of Charlotte the Harlot'.
• "Hooks In You" from No Prayer for the Dying is usually considered the third Charlotte song. However the only reference to Charlotte is of having the keys for "Number 22". It is worth noting that Adrian Smith, who co-wrote the song with Bruce Dickinson had been having problems with the style the band had been changing to in the 'Somewhere in Time' and 'Seventh Son of a Seventh Son' albums and may deliberately have been going over themes from older songs to change this.
• "From Here to Eternity" from Fear of the Dark concerns a Charlotte being seduced by a man and his motorcycle. It is implied in the lyrics that Charlotte dies in this song, and this may be Harris wiping the slate clean. (Composed by Steve Harris).

While the latter two songs are clearly intended to reference the former two, they do not form any sort of clear narrative with them. The third one at least sticks to the concept of Charlotte being a prostitute, but links to the Charlotte in 'From Here to Eternity' are hard to see. It is likely Charlotte's adventures will not continue, due to the style of Maiden's music changing from this point onwards. Her apparent death in "From here to Eternity" may have been deliberately for this reason.