Written by guitarist Adrian Smith, "Wasted Years" was the first single from the album, and is one of Maiden's most accessible and mainstream-sounding songs. It is probably as close as they can get to the mainstream and still retain their unique Maiden sound. There is a long and very melodic chorus by Maiden standards.
The song is about the fleeting nature of time. They chose not to name it "Golden Years" so as not to confuse it with the David Bowie song.
The band went rogue during a 1986 performance of this song on the German TV show P.I.T., where they were expected to mime along to a recording. Within the first 30 seconds, lead singer Bruce Dickinson grabbed Steve Harris' bass and Harris took over on "vocals." From there, it was full-on mockery as the band made it clear they had no interest in a recorded performance.
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