The Longest Day

"The Longest Day" is a song by British Heavy metal band Iron Maiden and was composed and written by Adrian Smith, Steve Harris, and Bruce Dickinson. The song is featured on their 2006 album, A Matter of Life and Death. James Christopher Monger of Allmusic selected the song as a top track pick, one of only two songs on the album to receive this honour and described the song as "brutal". The song is about the terrifying experience being a soldier during Operation Overlord on D-Day of the 1944 World War II Battle of Normandy. The title of the song comes from the 1962 film The Longest Day which was based on the 1959 novel by Irish author Cornelius Ryan which was also titled The Longest Day. The song is considered a sequel by the band to the war epic Paschendale from the 2003 album Dance of Death written about the World War I battle of Passchendaele in 1917. The song was played live during every show on the A Matter of Life and Death Tour as the band included the entire performance of the album during every setlist on the tour.

[Verse 1] In the gloom, the gathering storm abates In the ships, gimlet eyes await The call to arms to hammer at the gates To blow them wide, throw evil to its fate All summers long, the drills to build the machine To turn men from flesh and blood to steel From paper soldiers to bodies on the beach From summer sands to Armageddon´s reach Overlord, your master, not your God The enemy coast dawning grey with scud These wretched souls, puking, shaking fear To take a bullet for those who sent them here The world's alight The cliffs erupt in flame No escape, remorseless shrapnel rains Drowning men, no chance for a warrior's fate A choking death, enter Hell's gates [Pre-Chorus] Sliding we go Only fear on our side To the edge of the wire And we rush with the tide Oh, the water is red With the blood of the dead But I'm still alive Pray to God I survive [Chorus] How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? [Verse 2] The rising dead, faces bloated, torn They are relieved, the living wait their turn Your number's up, the bullet's got your name You still go on to Hell and back again Valhalla waits Valkyries rise and fall The warrior tombs lie open for us all A ghostly hand reaches through the veil Blood and sand, we will prevail [Pre-Chorus] Sliding we go Only fear on our side To the edge of the wire And we rush with the tide Oh, the water is red With the blood of the dead But I'm still alive Pray to God I survive [Chorus] How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? [Instrumental Break: 4:30-6:39] [Chorus] How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through? How long, on this longest day 'Til we finally make it through?