Valkyrie

Asia mainstays John Wetton and Geoff Downes wrote this song, which Wetton said is about a close friend of theirs who passed away a few years earlier. "It's about wishing and hoping that somebody took them to a better place," he told us.

In Norse mythology, the Valkyries would look over the battlefield and transport the dead to Valhalla. In this song, the Valkyrie represents safe passage to the afterlife for the fallen friend. "I put myself in the position of the person who is lying dead on the battlefield, and this spirit comes along and takes me away," John Wetton explained in our interview. "It's a joyful song. I would say it's quite dark, but it's joyous. It's triumphant in the end."

The album, Asia's fourteenth, was going to be called Valkyrie right up to the last minute. The objection came from drummer Carl Palmer, who felt it was too feminine a title. John Wetton disagreed, but acquiesced, suggesting that they change the album title to that of the song they were working on next: Gravitas.