Veteran of the Psychic Wars

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"Veteran of the Psychic Wars" is a song by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult, written by Eric Bloom (band vocal) and Michael Moorcock (British author, creator of Elric of Melniboné, Hawkmoon, Erekosë, Corum, Jerry Cornelius, and the myth of the Eternal Champion). It is on the album Fire of Unknown Origin. This song is on the soundtrack of the 1981 animated film Heavy Metal.

The lyrics can be interpreted as a second-person look at an Eternal Champion after many exhausting trials and tribulations in the endless war between Law and Chaos.

Though "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" is the song's proper name, it is possible to find it titled Veteran of a Thousand Psychic Wars.

The phrase "...veterans of a Thousand Psychic Wars" is from the Hawkwind song Standing on the Edge, from the album Warrior on the Edge of Time, which also dealt with the myth of the Eternal Champion, and contained lyrics written by Moorcock.