Stranger in a Strange Land (song)
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- Stranger in a Strange Land is also the name of unrelated songs by Triumph, Phil Ochs, Leon Russell, and U2, as well as the title of the also-unrelated Robert A. Heinlein novel Stranger in a Strange Land
| “Stranger in a Strange Land” | |||||
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| Single by Iron Maiden from the album Somewhere in Time |
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| B-side | "That Girl" "Juanita" |
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| Released | 22 November 1986 | ||||
| Genre | Heavy metal | ||||
| Length | 5:45 | ||||
| Label | EMI | ||||
| Writer(s) | Adrian Smith | ||||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | |||||
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"Stranger in a Strange Land" is written by guitarist Adrian Smith, and is the fifteenth Iron Maiden single, released as the second single from the 1986 Iron Maiden album Somewhere in Time. The song is unrelated to Robert A. Heinlein's novel by the same name. The lyrics are about an arctic explorer who dies and is frozen in the ice. After a hundred years his body is found preserved by other people exploring there. Adrian Smith was inspired to write about this song after talking to an explorer who had had a similar experience of discovering a frozen body. The guitar solo in "Stranger in a Strange Land" is played by Adrian Smith. "Stranger in a Strange Land" is one of only three Iron Maiden songs to fade out, the other being "The Prophecy" from Seventh Son of a Seventh Son and "Women in Uniform", a single included on some pressings of Killers.
Eddie's appearance on the single cover is a homage to the Clint Eastwood character "The Man With No Name". This version of Eddie would later be used in the Camp Chaos music video for Run to the Hills.
The B'sides to this single, That Girl and Juanita, came from two bands that Adrian Smith's friend, Andy Barnett, played with. They were played during The Entire Population of Hackney secret gig on 19th December 1985 and this is probably where the idea came from to play them as B'sides, especially with Adrian's large presence on this single and the Somewhere in Time album. The first guitar solo in "That Girl" is played by Dave Murray while the ending guitar solo is played by Adrian Smith.
[edit] Trivia
- In the top-right corner of the cover (slightly right of Eddie's lit match), the time on the clock appears as "11:58". This is a reference to a previous Iron Maiden single, "2 Minutes to Midnight".
- Several cards can be seen falling from the table. One, (orange background, next to red colored card) contains a picture of the Grim Reaper.
[edit] Track listing
- "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Adrian Smith) – 5:45
- "That Girl" (Andy Barnett, Goldsworth, Jupp; FM cover) – 5:04
- "Juanita" (Steve Barnacle, Derek O'Neil; Marshall Fury cover) – 3:47
[edit] Credits
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Nicko McBrain – drums
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