"Tailgunner" is sequel to Maiden's 1984 song "Aces High." It depicts the battle from another perspective. It was co-written by Bruce Dickinson and Steve Harris.
Maiden lead singer Bruce Dickinson explained the original inspiration for this song: "The title came from a porno movie about anal sex. Then I thought, well I can't write the lyrics about that, so I write it about real tailgunners. I had some words which began 'Trace your way back fifty years, to the glow of Dresden, blood and tears.' I know we shouldn't mention the war but it's about the attitude of bombing people. It was real death in the skies back then. But there aren't any tailgunners on planes anymore, it's all done by computers using missiles. At least it used to be man-on-man, but now it's machine-on-machine. Who uses bullets anymore?"
The first track off the No Prayer For the Dying album, "Tailgunner" finds Bruce Dickinson imitating former Maiden vocalist Paul Di'Anno's raspy singing style.
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