Still Life

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piece_of_Mind: "Still Life" is inspired by fantasy/horror writer Clark Ashton Smith's pre-World War II short story Genius Loci. At the beginning of...Still Life, the band included a hidden message which could only be understood by playing the album backwards. This was a joke and an intended swing back at the critics who had accused Maiden of being satanic. The backwards-message features Nicko McBrain mimicking Idi Amin (or rather mimicking John Bird mimicking Idi Amin) uttering the following phrase "What ho said the t'ing with the three "bonce", do not meddle with things you don't understand...", followed by a belch. The phrase itself is taken from the satirical album The Collected Broadcasts of Idi Amin by Bird and Alan Coren. "What ho" and "What ho said the t'ing" are phrases that also crop up regularly on McBrain's "Listen With Nicko!" tracks from the First Ten Years collection.

[Spoken Intro] Dnatsrednu t'nod uoy sgniht htiw leddem t'nod, ecnob eerht eht htiw gni't eht dias oh tahw [Verse 1] Take a look in the pool and what do you see? In the dark depths there, faces beckoning me Can't you see them? It's plain for all to see They were there, oh, I know you don't believe me [Pre-Chorus] Oh, I've never felt so strange But I'm not going insane [Verse 2] I've no doubt that you think I'm off of my head You don't say, but it's in your eyes instead Hours I spend out just gazing into that pool Something draws me there, I don't know what to do [Pre-Chorus] Oh, they drain my strength away Oh, they're asking me to stay [Chorus] Nightmares, spirits calling me Nightmares, they won't leave me be [Verse 3] All my life's blood is slowly draining away And I feel that I'm weaker every day Somehow, I know I haven't long to go Joining them at the bottom of the pool [Pre-Chorus] Now, I feel they are so near I begin to see them clear [Chorus] Nightmares coming all the time Nightmares will give me peace of mind [Instrumental Break] [Guitar Solo] [Verse 4] Now it's clear and I know what I have to do I must take you down there to look at them, too Hand in hand, then we'll jump right into that pool Can't you see? Not just me, they want you, too [Pre-Chorus] Oh, we'll drown together It will be forever [Chorus] Nightmares, forever calling me Nightmares, now we rest in peace