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About halfway through this week’s episode of The Walking Dead, Season 10 Episode 11, Eugene sings a poignant song that no only relates to the coming battle that Alexandria is facing, but many people today may find relatable too. The song he’s singing is by Iron Maiden. Read on below to learn more and see a video of the song. This post has minor spoilers for tonight’s episode of The Walking Dead.
Eugene Sang an Iron Maiden Song
Near the end of The Walking Dead Season 10 Episode 11, Eugene sings a song that serves as a backdrop for several scenes as the people at Alexandria prepare for war. (46 minutes into the episode)
The song that Eugene sings begins with these lyrics: “Have you heard what they said on the news today? Have you heard what is coming to us all? That the world as we know it will be coming to an end? Have you heard?”
Then later he sings: “They said there’s nothing can be done about the situation, They said there’s nothing you can do at all, To sit and wait around for something to occur, Did you know, did you know?”
The song is called When the Wild Wind Blows by Iron Maiden. You can hear the original version in the video below.
And here is a video with lyrics.
Here’s an acoustic guitar cover of the song.
And here’s Iron Maiden performing the song live.
The song is on the album The Final Frontier, which was released in 2010. The original track for the song is 11 minutes long and the band had to learn the song in pieces because it was so complex and long. Steve Harris wrote all the lyrics to this song on his own.
The Song Is About a Graphic Novel from 1982 Featuring a Post-Nuclear World
According to SongFacts, the song is based on Raymond Briggs’ graphic novel called When the Wind Blows. As opposed to The Walking Dead, which is about a post-apocalyptic zombie world, When the Wind Blows is about a post-nuclear fallout world.
The graphic novel was first published in 1982 and is by Raymond Briggs. It’s about the Soviet Union attacking Britain and how a retired couple deal with the aftermath. The book is actually much bleaker than The Walking Dead.
In 1986, an animated film was made about the book starring John Mills and Peggy Ashcroft. Interestingly, the soundtrack for the film includes music by David Bowie, including a title song called When the Wind Blows.
Here is Bowie’s When the Wind Blows song, which is very different from Iron Maiden’s song that was featured in The Walking Dead. Note: This video has spoilers for the animated film, just in case you were planning to watch it.
Iron Maiden Commentary gives the following explanation for Iron Maiden’s song, writing in part: “The lyrics have been loosely inspired by the 1986 animated film When The Wind Blows, itself adapted from Raymond Briggs’s graphic novel of the same name. The original story is that of an aging couple, Jim and Hilda, who prepare for a thermonuclear war, each in his own way – Jim prepares a shelter, while Hilda is preparing tea. After the nuclear explosion that has destroyed everything around their little house in the countryside, they reflect on their past and wonder about the future… It’s a beautiful tale about the madness of the authorities and the helplessness of the people when faced with anihilation…”
The song is dark but fits perfectly with The Walking Dead.