2 Minutes to Midnight - 2015 Remaster

This song is about the threat of nuclear war. On Disc 2 of Iron Maiden's DVD Live After Death, lead singer Bruce Dickinson explains: "It's about the romance of war, and how we're all repelled and fascinated by it at the same time."

The title is a reference to the Doomsday Clock, which was created in 1947 by the magazine Bulletin Of Atomic Sciences. It was set at 7 minutes to midnight, indicating that due to the threat of nuclear war, the world was running out of time. As tensions escalated over the years, the clock was moved forward, but has been set back several times as treaties are signed and the threat decreased. In 1958, the United States and Soviet Union were both testing hydrogen bombs, so the clock was moved up to 11:58 - the closest it ever got to midnight.

Maiden guitarist Adrian Smith wrote this song with Bruce Dickinson. It's one of the few songs in the band's catalog that bass player Steve Harris didn't have a hand in writing.