Senjutsu

"Senjutsu" is a Japanese word that loosely translates as "tactics and strategy," or "the art of war." When bassist Steve Harris came up with this track and presented it to Bruce Dickinson, the vocalist looked at the lyrics and thought his bandmate must have been bingeing on Game Of Thrones. "There's northern people coming down from the grasslands, there's a wall, and they've got to protect the wall at all costs," he said. Concerned he could be mixing his metaphors, Dickinson asked Harris if he was talking about the Great Wall Of China. Harris replied: "No, not the Great Wall Of China. It's just a wall." Dickinson concluded it doesn't matter if he is mixing his metaphors as it's a "good story, and a great vocal to sing on."

The idea of Maiden's shape-shifting mascot, Eddie, in full samurai regalia, appealed to Dickinson. Fortunately, "Samurai Eddie" was a theme the band's venerable mascot has not displayed before (although he had a samurai sword on Maiden's 1981 live album cover for Maiden Japan). "Let's face it, we've plundered a few cultures over the years with Eddie," Dickinson told Apple Music. "We had a Mayan Eddie and we've had a sci-fi one. We've had a space monster Eddie, an Egyptian Eddie, a mummy Eddie." Dickinson said Maiden has always had a big fan base in Japan, "which is a pretty exotic place with a very rich samurai history."

The song's music fits the Japanese theme of the record, starting with some ominous drumbeats from what sounds like big Japanese taiko drums. "'Senjutsu' has got drama all over it," said Dickinson. "To me, it builds and builds and builds. There's a vocal fugue in the middle with echoes going over the top and then another vocal line. It resolves beautifully into this really magisterial vocal line as you get towards the latter half of the tune."