Stranger in a Strange Land (song)

"Stranger in a Strange Land" is the second single by Iron Maiden from their 1986 album Somewhere in Time. The song is unrelated to Robert A. Heinlein's novel by the same name.^[1] 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.^[2] 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. The song 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. The lyrics "no brave new world" were also present in Iron Maiden's 2000 studio release, Brave New World.

Eddie's appearance on the single cover is an homage to the Clint Eastwood character "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 19 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.

Cover details

• 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 coloured card) contains a picture of the Grim Reaper, like that on the Trooper cover.

• Just under one of the stacks of cards, on the edge of the table, Derek Riggs' signature can be seen.

• In the music video for a later song, "The Angel and the Gambler" (from Virtual XI), then-singer Blaze Bayley dressed up like this Eddie.

Track listing

1. "Stranger in a Strange Land" (Adrian Smith) – 5:45
2. "That Girl" (Merv Goldsworthy, Pete Jupp, Andy Barnett; FM cover) – 5:04
3. "Juanita" (Steve Barnacle, Derek O'Neil; Marshall Fury cover) – 3:47

Chart performance

Notes

1. ^ Re-release of both singles as part of "The First Ten Years" box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK Singles chart.

Personnel

• Bruce Dickinson – vocals
• Dave Murray – synthesized guitar
• Adrian Smith – synthesized guitar
• Steve Harris – bass guitar
• Nicko McBrain – drums

References