"The Clairvoyant" is a song by the English
heavy metal band
Iron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
. It is the band's nineteenth single and the third from their seventh
studio album, ''
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
''Seventh Son of a Seventh Son'' is the seventh studio album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released on 11 April 1988 in the United Kingdom by EMI Records and in the United States by Capitol Records. Like '' The Number of the ...
'' (1988). The single, which was also released as a clear vinyl, peaked at number six in the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
charts. It contains three live performances from Maiden's 1988 headlining performance at the
Monsters of Rock
Monsters of Rock was an annual hard rock and heavy metal music festival held in Castle Donington, England, from 1980 to 1996, taking place every year except 1989 and 1993. It later branched into other locations such as the Netherlands, Poland, ...
festival in
Donington Park.
The promotional video for the song, although set to the studio version, features live clips from the Donington performance.
Song information
The song starts in the first person, from the main character's point of view. Later, when he is dead it is in the third person. According to Steve Harris, the song was inspired by the death of psychic
Doris Stokes, and his wondering that if she were truly able to see the future, would not she had foreseen her own death?
The song's guitar solo is played by Dave Murray.
Track listing
;7" Single
;12" Single
Personnel
Production credits are adapted from the 12 inch vinyl cover.
;Iron Maiden
*
Bruce Dickinson –
lead vocals
*
Dave Murray –
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
*
Adrian Smith
Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio.
Smith grew up in London ...
– guitar,
backing vocals
A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...
*
Steve Harris –
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, backing vocals
*
Nicko McBrain
Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...
–
drums
;Additional musicians
*
Michael Kenney
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...
–
keyboards
Keyboard may refer to:
Text input
* Keyboard, part of a typewriter
* Computer keyboard
** Keyboard layout, the software control of computer keyboards and their mapping
** Keyboard technology, computer keyboard hardware and firmware
Music
* Musi ...
;Production
*
Martin Birch
Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...
–
producer
*Tony Wilson – producer
*
Derek Riggs
Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, " Eddie".
Career
Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in hi ...
–
cover illustration
*
Ross Halfin
Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock and roll photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, ...
–
photography
Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employe ...
Versions
Chart performance
Notes
References
Iron Maiden songs
1988 singles
Songs written by Steve Harris (musician)
1988 songs
EMI Records singles
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