Can I Play With Madness

"Can I Play with Madness" was the sixteenth single released by Iron Maiden. Released in 1988, it is the first single from the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son album and hit number 3 in the UK charts. The song is about a young man who wants to learn the future from an old prophet with a crystal ball. The young man thinks he is going mad and seeks the old prophet to help him cope with his visions/nightmares. The prophet's advice is ignored by the young man and they become angry with each other. The song was originally a ballad named "On the Wings of Eagles", written by Adrian Smith. The video of the song was set at Tintern Abbey and features Graham Chapman; this would be one of his last appearances on television before his death in October 1989 of cancer. In the video, Chapman plays an irritable art instructor who criticizes a young student for drawing Iron Maiden mascot Eddie rather than sketching the abbey ruins. The teacher discovers an underground lab and finally encounters an animated version of Eddie, who leers and reaches out to him from inside a refrigerator. The band appears on a TV screen showing live footage of a concert. Adrian Smith is shown playing left-handed, suggesting a reversed image. As the third track in the Seventh Son of A Seventh Son album, it has been suggested that this song is about the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son father. Maybe the visions and nightmares he has are the ones explained in the Infinite Dreams song. The symbol accompanying this song in the album booklet (and, therefore, it's suggested it completes its significance) is the Crescent Moon.

[Intro] Can I play with madness? [Verse 1] Give me the sense to wonder To wonder if I'm free Give me a sense of wonder To know I can be me Give me the strength to hold my head up Spit back in their face Don't need no key to unlock this door Gonna break down the walls Break out of this bad place [Chorus] Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball Can I play with madness? There's no vision there at all Can I play with madness? The prophet looked at me and laughed at me (ha ha) He said: Can I play with madness? He said you're blind, too blind to see Said you're too blind to see [Verse 2] I screamed aloud to the old man I said "Don't lie, don't say you don't know" I say "You'll pay for this mischief In this world or the next" Oh and then he fixed me with a freezing glance And the hell fires raged in his eyes He said "You wanna know the truth son? Lord, I'll tell you the truth Your soul's gonna burn in a lake of fire" [Chorus] Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball Can I play with madness? There's no vision there at all Can I play with madness? The prophet looked at me and laughed at me (ha ha) He said: Can I play with madness? He said you're blind, too blind to see Said you're too blind to see "Listen to me," said the prophet [Chorus] Can I play with madness? The prophet stared at his crystal ball Can I play with madness? There's no vision there at all Can I play with madness? The prophet looked at me and laughed at me (ha ha) He said: Can I play with madness? He said you're blind, too blind to see Said you're too blind to see Can I play with madness?