Aces High

[The song] describes an air battle from the viewpoint of a flying ace. The lyrics and fast-paced style have made the song commonly associated with war, and it appeared in the 1986 film Incident at Channel Q, about a war between headbangers and conservative "straight people".

The first line is "There goes the siren that warns of the air raid." Lead singer Bruce Dickinson had earned the nickname "The Air Raid Siren" for his powerful, never-tiring vocals. He is also a licensed pilot, and since leaving the band in 1993, has flown many commercial flights.

Partially inspired by the 1976 war film of the same name starring Malcolm McDowell and Christopher Plummer.
The cover for the single was a close-up of Eddie (Iron Maiden's mascot) in a WWII jet. The back of the case showed the jet spiraling the ground, up in flames, smoke spewing from it. The B-side was "King of Twilight."

On the back of the album Somewhere in Time, there is an Aces High Bar.
On the cover art, to the left below the cockpit there is a unique symbol scribbled in white. This is cover art designer Derek Rigg's "logo," which depicts his initials - a mirrored D and an R on the right hand side.

Iron Maiden had already performed two songs about a historical war from the perspective of those being attacked. One was "Invaders," which was set during a Viking sea battle. The other was "Trooper," set during the Crimean War in which the British fought the Russians (see the famous Alfred Lord Tennyson poem The Charge of the Light Brigade). After this, Maiden wrote and performed another song about flying aces in combat, "Tailgunner." "Run to the Hills" was also about a historical war/invasion, but was told from the perspective of both the invaders and the invaded.
This was covered by Children of Bodon for the album A Tribute to the Beast and Arch Enemy for the album Made In Tribute - A Tribute to The Best Band In A Whole Goddamn World!. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for all above)
Get Artistfacts for Iron Maiden

Comments:

Eddie is flying a spitfire on the cover. You can recognize the plane from the shape of the canopy.
- Eetu, Helsinki, Finland

This song kicks ass! Up the irons!
- Brian, Bellingham, WA

The Aces High single cover art did not show Eddie in a "WWII jet". As the ME-262 was only operational jet in WWII-at the very end of the war --and it was German, we can safely say Eddie's plane is NOT a jet. It is most likely a Spitfire as predominited in the air Battle of Britain of 1940.
- Matt, Charleston, SC

The above are definitely more schooled on IM trivia than I, as well as the meanings of their songs and the history the songs are based upon. I had heard that Bruce Dickinson was once a world-class fencer, an impressive feat. I also saw a VH-1 or MTV trivia show (I forget which) on which Bruce was a celebrity contestant. He not only handled an obnoxious female celebrity's onslaught of insults with dignity, but he also showed how intelligence can be showed by not stooping to the level of the assailant. I gained more respect for the man as well as the band.
- Todd, Denver, CO

The band covering this are CHILDREN OF BODOM, not BODON
- Luke, Manchester, England

Steve was also inspired, in part, tho wtite Aces High by Nicko McBrain who was learning to fly at the time.
- David, Petaluma, CA

This song is specifically about the Battle of Britain during the summer of 1940. When he sings "10 Me-109s" he's referring to the Messerschmitt 109 the main German fighter during the battle and Spitfires refers to the best fighter the British RAF had which was the Supermarine Spitfire. The battle took place totally in the air and had no offical start or end date.
- Brett, Brooklyn, NY

(From Songfacts)