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The Clairvoyant (song)

"The Clairvoyant" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the band's nineteenth single and the third from their seventh studio album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988), the first time they had released three singles from an album. The single, which was also released as a clear vinyl, peaked at number six in the British charts. It contains three live performances from Maiden's 1988 headlining performance at the Monsters of Rock festival in Donington Park.

"The Clairvoyant (Live in 1988)"
Single by Iron Maiden
from the album Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
B-side
  • "The Prisoner (Live)"
  • "Heaven Can Wait (Live)"
Released7 November 1988
Recorded20 August 1988
VenueMonsters of Rock Festival (Donington, UK)
GenreHeavy metal
Length4:24[1]
LabelEMI
Songwriter(s)Steve Harris
Producer(s)Martin Birch
Iron Maiden singles chronology
"The Evil That Men Do"
(1988) 		"The Clairvoyant (Live in 1988)"
(1988) 		"Infinite Dreams (Live in 1988)"
(1989)

The promotional video for the song, although set to the studio version, features live clips from the Donington performance.

Song information

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Background

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The song starts in the first person, from the main character's point of view. Later, when he is dead it is in the third person. According to Steve Harris, the song was inspired by the death of psychic Doris Stokes, and his wondering that if she were truly able to see the future, would not she had foreseen her own death?

Structure

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The song has a chiastic structure, in that it starts and ends with the same D major riff driven by Steve Harris's bass and Dave Murray's guitar. After the initial buildup and first installment of the riff, the song switches to D minor (parallel key) for the verses and a verse-closing melody. After two repeats of the verse-melody scheme, the melody is played in C minor, then the song returns to D minor for the chorus. The guitar solo (in E major) is played by Dave Murray using the intro riff as rhythm, and includes an harmonized passage (in recent live performances, played in duet with Janick Gers). After the solo, the song repeats the verse-melody-chorus sequence (albeit the last chorus is played in C minor), and ends with the intro riff in D major.

Legacy

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The song survived the promotional tour of the album and was regularly played during the 1990s: the No Prayer on the Road tour, the Fear of the Dark Tour, the Real Live Tour and The X Factour all had the song as a regular number in the set-list, and it was played during most shows of the Virtual XI World Tour. With the return of Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden in 1999, the song was dropped from set-lists until the summer of 2003 leg of the Dance of Death World Tour (called Give Me Ed... 'til I'm Dead Tour). The song returned as a setlist regular for the 2008/2009 Somewhere Back in Time World Tour, and the 2012/2013 legs of the Maiden England World Tour.

Official live recordings have been released as parts of the "A Real Live One" (1993), "Live at Donington" (1993) and "Flight 666" (2009) live albums.

Track listing

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7" Single
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Clairvoyant"Steve Harris4:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
2."The Prisoner" (Live at Monsters of Rock Festival, Donington, England, 20 August 1988)Adrian Smith, Harris6:07
12" Single
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."The Clairvoyant" (Live at Monsters of Rock Festival, Donington, England, 20 August 1988)Harris4:24
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
2."The Prisoner" (Live at Monsters of Rock Festival, Donington, England, 20 August 1988)Smith, Harris6:07
3."Heaven Can Wait" (Live at Monsters of Rock Festival, Donington, England, 20 August 1988)Harris7:08

Personnel

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Production credits are adapted from the 12 inch vinyl cover.[1]

Iron Maiden
Additional musicians
Production

Versions

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Songs Country & Year Catalog Number Format
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) Germany 1988 EMI 006-20 3927 7 Single 7"
The Clairvoyant / The Prisoner (Live) UK 1988 EMI EM 79 Black Labels Single 7"
The Clairvoyant / The Prisoner (Live) UK 1988 EMI EM 79 Silver Labels Single 7"
The Clairvoyant / The Prisoner (Live) UK 1988 EMI EMS 79 Poster Sleeve Clear Vinyl Single 7"
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) / Heaven Can Wait (Live) EEC 1988 EMI K 060 20 3048 6 Maxi Single 12"
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) / Heaven Can Wait (Live) UK 1988 EMI 12 EM 79 Maxi Single 12"
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) / Heaven Can Wait (Live) UK 1988 EMI 12EMG 79 Maxi Single 12" Gatefold Sleeve
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) UK 1988 EMI EMP 79 Shaped Picture Disc 7"
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) UK 1988 EMI EMP 79 Uncut Picture Disc 12"
The Clairvoyant (Live) / The Prisoner (Live) / Heaven Can Wait (Live) UK 1988 EMI CDEM 79 CD Single

Chart performance

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Single Chart (1988) Peak
position 		Album
"The Clairvoyant" Irish Singles Chart 7[2] Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
UK Singles Chart 6[3]
Single Chart (1990) Peak
position 		Album
"The Clairvoyant / Infinite Dreams" UK Albums Chart[note 1] 11[4] —

Notes

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  1. ^ Re-release of both singles as part of The First Ten Years box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK Singles chart.

References

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  1. ^ a b "The Clairvoyant" 12 Inch Single (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. 7 November 1988.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  2. ^ "Irish Charts Archive". IRMA. irishcharts.ie. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  3. ^ "Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive 26 November 1988". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 October 2011.
  4. ^ "Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive 28 April 1990". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 October 2011.


 

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