1984. Iron Maiden publica "Powerslave" y lo cierra con una bestia de 13 minutos y 38 segundos. Tiempo suficiente, como alguien calculó, para hacer una pizza congelada. Steve Harris, el bajista y compositor de la banda, se inspiró en el poema homónimo de Samuel Taylor Coleridge escrito en 1798, considerado el inicio de la literatura romántica inglesa. La historia: un marinero mata a un albatros sin motivo y su barco queda maldito. Sed, muerte de la tripulación y condena eterna a contar su historia a quien se cruce.
Harris no recuerda exactamente por qué eligió ese poema. Bruce Dickinson tiene su propia teoría: hartos de que los llamaran adoradores del diablo después de "The Number of the Beast", Harris quiso dejar claro que el Maiden hablaba de elecciones, consecuencias y respeto a la vida, no de satanismo.
Cuando Harris presentó la canción al grupo, nadie pensó que acabaría durando tanto. El guitarrista Adrian Smith lo recordó así: en las grabaciones en las Bahamas, Harris tuvo que colgar las letras desde el techo hasta el suelo porque eran demasiadas para sujetarlas en la mano. La canción nunca se publicó como single, pero fue el plato fuerte de la gira "World Slavery" del 84 al 85 y ha vuelto al repertorio en varias ocasiones. Fue la canción más larga del Maiden durante 31 años, hasta que en 2015 "Empire of the Clouds" la superó con sus 18 minutos.
Hear the rime of the ancient mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea
And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and the mariner tells his tale
Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings
And the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on
The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime
Sailing on and on and north across the sea
Sailing on and on and north 'til all is calm
The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse, a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the mariner
About his neck the dead bird is hung
And the curse goes on and on and on at sea
And the thirst goes on and on for them and me
Day after day, day after day, we stuck, no breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water everywhere and all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink
"There", calls the mariner, "There comes a ship over the line"
"But how can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tide?"
"See, onward she comes"
"Onward she nears, out of the sun"
"See, she has no crew, she has no life"
"Wait but there's two"
Death and she, Life in Death, they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now
Then, crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She, she, Life-in-Death
She lets him live, her chosen one
One after one by the star dogged moon
Too quick for groan or sigh
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang
And cursed me with his eye
Four times 50 living men
(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
They dropped down, one by one
The curse it lives on in their eyes
The mariner he wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he
And by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too
Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the rain, ha, ha, ha
Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes
And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on
Now the curse is finally lifted
And the mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and the mariner's left alone
And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto him
And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrives the mariner of his sins
The mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell this tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made
And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on and on
