Wasted Years - 2015 Remaster

Written by guitarist Adrian Smith, "Wasted Years" was the first single from the 1986 album of the same name, and is one of Iron Maiden's most accessible songs. It's about as close as they could get to the mainstream while retaining their unique Maiden sound. That long and very melodic chorus isn't typical of the band.

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.