A heavy intro rhythm opens a pretty lengthy standard Maiden song, with a long instrumental before a quiet end. Right at the end, Nicko can be heard saying: "Awww... I fucking missed it!", as he thought he'd messed the end of the song, although he hadn't.

The vocal line on:
I will hope, my soul will fly, so I will live forever
Heart will die, my soul will fly, and I will live forever

is reminiscent of:
All my life ... I've run astray, let my faith ... slip away
All my life ... I've run astray, allowed my faith ... to drift away

from 'The Unbeliever' on The X Factor album. Is it coincidental? Probably.

The lyrics deal essentially with the free will of a person to turn good or bad, and that, although "we all like to put the blame on society these days", it is everyone's choice to decide on how to lead his life. The question of when the path is determined arises ("At what age begin to learn of which way out we will turn"), along with that about what determines how things will turn out ("But what makes a man decide, take the wrong or righteous road"), but the final decision, conscious or not, belongs to each individual and "the trail is there to burn".

Somehow, this song seems to be related to 'Judgement Day', on the Man On The Edge single. As it goes, it indicates that our deeds during our present lives will influence our "after life". This concept appears in the three main monotheistic religions of the world, where there is the punishment of Hell for those who misbehaved and the reward of Heaven for those who had a "virtuous" life. This particular notion can also be found in Buddhism, where it is believed that the next reincarnation is influenced by the way the former life was led. Obviously, Steve is convinced that he behaved like a decent human being, as his "soul will fly" (reminiscent of 'Hallowed Be Thy Name''s "Catch my soul it's willing to fly away") and he "will live forever". If there is any such this as an "after life", I'd agree with him, although he is most likely to "live forever" through his work, and I am sure that his compositions will still be played long after his demise.

Another Steve lyric. It almost sounds like a UFO track in places. It was quite an unusual thing we did on the vocal on this 'cos it's more of a rock'n'roll/hard rock rythm going down and we actually put a harmony on the entire verse. So it's quite an unusual sound for Maiden. It's basically about karma. In other words what goes around comes around and you reap what you sow and only you take the responsibility for it. There's the hope if you've done the right stuff, otherwise down you go to the pit of hell!

Bruce Dickinson.