Trace your way back
Fifty years
To the glow of Dresden
Blood and tears
In the black above
By the cruel searchlight
Men will die
And men will fight
Yeah
Who shot who
And who fired first?
Dripping death
To whet the bloodthirst
No radar lock on
Skin and bone
The bomber boys
Are going home
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Nail that fokker/f***er
Kill that son
Gonna blow your guts out
With my gun
The weather forecast's
Good for war
Cologne and Frankfurt?
Have some more
Tail end Charlie
In the boiling sky
The Enola Gay
Was my last try
Now that this
Tailgunner's gone
No more bombers
(Just one big bomb)
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner.
Fifty years
To the glow of Dresden
Blood and tears
In the black above
By the cruel searchlight
Men will die
And men will fight
Yeah
Who shot who
And who fired first?
Dripping death
To whet the bloodthirst
No radar lock on
Skin and bone
The bomber boys
Are going home
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner
Nail that fokker/f***er
Kill that son
Gonna blow your guts out
With my gun
The weather forecast's
Good for war
Cologne and Frankfurt?
Have some more
Tail end Charlie
In the boiling sky
The Enola Gay
Was my last try
Now that this
Tailgunner's gone
No more bombers
(Just one big bomb)
Climb into the sky
Never wonder why
Tailgunner
You're a Tailgunner.
Contributed by Riccardo Venturi - 2005/8/14 - 15:27
Well, just for the record, Fokker fighters were used in WWII by the Dutch and the Finns, these saw plenty of action, and also the Danes. Even the Germans used some captured ones, though not against allied bombers.
Sheenka - 2023/1/13 - 10:25
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Da / From "No Prayer For The Dying"
A sequel to Maiden's 1984 song Aces High It depicts the battle from another perspective. It was co-written by Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris.
Contains the harshest profanity Iron Maiden has ever used in their song lyrics- the F-word.
Bruce Dickinson: "The title came from a porno movie about anal sex. Then I thought, well I can't write the lyrics about that, so I write it about real tailgunners. I had some words which began 'Trace your way back fifty years, to the glow of Dresden, blood and tears.' I know we shouldn't mention the war but it's about the attitude of bombing people. It was real death in the skies back then. But there aren't any tailgunners on planes anymore, it's all done by computers using missiles. At least it used to be man-on-man, but now it's machine-on-machine. Who uses bullets anymore?"
The first track off the album, it featured Dickinson imitating former vocalist Paul Di'Anno's raspy singing style.
Dickinson sang the word "Fokker" (a plane term) in a way that sounded very similar to the popular expletive.
For the album that accompanied the release of the Iron Maiden computer game Ed Hunter, "Tailgunner," appropriately enough, was the last track- at the tail end. (thanks, Brett - Edmonton, Canada, for all above)
*
The F-word isn't F--ker, it's Fokker - A plane
- Ingólfur, Reykjavík, Iceland
It's about air warfare before radar, ANDis not about anal sex at all, and if it is its inspired by that janik gerrs
- callum, hobart, United States
To be precice, no Fokker-built fighters were used in WW2 so it can't be Fokkers bruce is singing about. I doubt about profanity in lyrics. But it can be about Focke Wulf fighters that were used by the Germans. When sung, "Fokker" and "Focke" sound similar.
- Eetu, Helsinki, Finland
Actually, the song Holy Smoke on the same album contains the lyrics: "I've lived in filth, I've lived in sin but I still smell cleaner than the s**t you're in"
- Brett, Northglenn, CO
The term Fokker refers to the aircraft manufacturer which still builds regional jets and turboprops. The Red Baron's plane, Manfred von Richthofen, was a Fokker DR.I. Also to my knowledge, Iron Maiden lyrics with Bruce Dickinson, never used profanity.
- David, Petaluma, CA