"The Trooper" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, Piece of Mind (1983). It was one of only a few songs to achieve frequent radio airplay in the United States, thus peaking at No. 28 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock.[1] It also achieved success in the United Kingdom, peaking at No. 12 in the UK Singles Charts, as well as gaining a better reception than the band's previous single, "Flight of Icarus".[2] The song is one of their most popular and remains an essential track of heavy metal music.
A live version of the song, from Death on the Road, was issued in 2005.
Overview
Written by bassist and founding member Steve Harris, the song is based on the Charge of the Light Brigade at the Battle of Balaclava 1854, which took place during the Crimean War,[2] and inspired by Lord Tennyson's 1854 poem of the same name.[3][4] The track has been the subject of much praise since its release, with AllMusic describing it as "an all-time genre classic that boasts guitarists Dave Murray and Adrian Smith's most memorable harmonized lead riff, plus that trademark galloping rhythm,"[5] while Mick Wall comments that it is the song "which most Maiden fans from those days still recall first when you mention the Piece of Mind album."[6] Despite the popularity of the song, it was the single's B-Side, a cover of Jethro Tull's "Cross-Eyed Mary", which managed to gain a substantial amount of airplay on US radio,[7] becoming one of the band's few tracks, along with previous single "Flight of Icarus",[6] to do so.
Bruce Dickinson performing the song live wearing a "red coat" styled military smock.
The single's accompanying music video included clips of a cavalry battle from the 1936 film The Charge of the Light Brigade, starring Errol Flynn and Olivia de Havilland,[8] which the BBC refused to play unedited, deeming the footage too violent.[2] The band's manager, Rod Smallwood, has since criticised the decision, stating, "Anyone would think we'd killed the horses ourselves instead of using an old Errol Flynn movie."[2] In 2003, Iron Maiden released a Camp Chaos version for the song. The music video shows the never-before-seen clips of the band playing the song as well as the animated battle between Eddie and politicians Al Gore and George W. Bush to which Eddie ended the conflict in the video by killing both Bush, Gore and their team. The updated version came in 2008, this time, the two US politicians were replaced by Eddie's yellow skeleton allies and their red enemy skeletons.
A regular fixture in the band's concerts, vocalist Bruce Dickinson has always waved a Union Flag during live performances and, more recently, has begun wearing an authentic red coat uniform which would have been worn during the battle on which the song was based.[9] During a performance in Dublin in 2003, Dickinson's flag-waving reportedly received a large amount of booing from the Irish audience.[10]
While the band were receiving criticism from Sharon Osbourne in 2005, at the time justifying her attack on the band at the 2005 Ozzfest, she accused Iron Maiden of disrespecting American troops, then fighting alongside the British in Iraq, for waving a Union Flag in the US, although Classic Rock magazine supported the band by pointing out that the song's subject bore no relation to the military activity then taking place in the Middle East.[9]
On 15 August 2005, a live version of the song was released from the then upcoming live album, Death on the Road.[11]
On 24 April 2016, during Iron Maiden's performance in Beijing (their first in China), Dickinson did not bring out a flag while performing "The Trooper" as part of the request from the Chinese government to allow Iron Maiden to perform in the country.[12] The flag was also omitted for a concert in Shanghai two days later.
