Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (forgotten song)

A State of the Union special...

Last week the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists advanced the Doomsday Clock by 30 seconds to 2 minutes to midnight.  The Doomsday Clock is a symbol, created in 1947 by the Science and the Security Board of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist at the beginning of the Cold War, of our proximity to human-made apocalyptic disaster, most notably nuclear war. 

In 1984 Iron Maiden released "2 Minutes to Midnight", a single from "Powerslave", about the Doomsday Clock.  Interestingly enough in 1984 when the song was released the clock was set "only" to 3 minutes; the Clock has only been at 2 minutes once before (1953) and never closer than 2 minutes.

Hearkening back to my discussion with Drew about how themes from 80s metal songs are sadly relevant again, choosing "2 Minutes to Midnight" is a little on the nose but it also seems unavoidable.

"As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun"

Iron Maiden - "2 Minutes to Midnight" (lyrics)



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