Steve Harris ponders the ideal Iron Maiden song, but the answer isn’t that simple.
Steve Harris talks about the song that could represent Iron Maiden’s musical legacy
During a recent interview on the Scars And Guitars podcast, Steve Harris, iconic bassist and founder of Iron Maiden, was asked a difficult question: which song from his career would best sum up his musical legacy? A question that even Harris had difficulty answering.
“It’s a strange question because I’ve written so many songs,” he thought. “I don’t know how many I’ve written, but there must be more than 150 over the years. It’s really hard to choose. I think that’s a question to ask the fans.”
Harris pointed out that each fan would likely have a different answer, with everyone having their favorite song: “If you ask people, I think 10 or 12 people would give you 10 or 12 different songs. It’s so personal that it’s really difficult.”
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The Evil That Men Do as an example of a typical Iron Maiden song
When the interviewer suggested Flight Of Icarus as the ultimate Iron Maiden song, Harris politely declined the idea, explaining that such a song should reflect the group’s collective spirit. “Not really, because I think it would be better to choose a song that was written by, say, three of us, or something like that, because that song was written by Adrian and Bruce. It doesn’t really have the elements of my writing.”
In contrast, Harris offered The Evil That Men Do as a better example of what Iron Maiden really is, showcasing their collaborative writing process. “I would probably choose something like The Evil That Men Do, which was written by the three of us. David also writes, but he is not very prolific. Nicko doesn’t write, and Janick, who joined later, has become quite a prolific author. But I would probably still say The Evil That Men Do.”
