Bruce Dickinson - 9. Tears Of The Dragon (Live Skunkworks 1996)

Skunkworks Live 1996 - Recorded in Pamplona and Gerona, Spain on May 30th and 31st 1996, during the Skunkworks world tour.

Bruce Dickinson - Vocals
Alex Dickson - Guitar
Chris Dale - Bass
Alessandro Elena - Drums

Tears Of The Dragon (Bruce Dickinson)

[Lyrics]

For too long now
There were secrets in my mind
For too long now
There were things I should have said

In the darkness, I was stumbling for the door
To find a reason, to find the time, the place, the hour

Waiting for the winter sun, and the cold light of day
The misty ghosts of childhood fears
The pressure is building and I can't stay away

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear, I once believed
The tears of the dragon, for you and for me

Where I was
I had wings that couldn't fly
Where I was
I had tears I couldn't cry

My emotions, frozen in an iced lake
I couldn't feel them, until the ice began to break

I have no power over this, you know I'm afraid
The walls I built are crumbling
The water is moving, I'm slipping away

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear, I once believed
The tears of the dragon, for you and for me

Slowly I awake
Slowly I rise
The walls I built are crumbling
The water is moving, I'm slipping away

I throw myself into the sea
Release the wave, let it wash over me
To face the fear, I once believed
The tears of the dragon, for you and for me [x2]
............................
Tears Of The Dragon is a song from Bruce Dickinson's second solo album, Balls to Picasso, released in 1994.

''Balls to Picasso'' is a Hard rock album released in 1994 and is the second effort in Bruce Dickinson's solo career. The ballad "Tears of the Dragon" stayed for many months on top the of charts in countries like Brazil where Dickinson has a large fanbase.
This record marked the beginning of Dickinson's collaborations with Roy Z, who would work on many of Dickinson's later albums including Accident of Birth, The Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls. Stylistically it departs from Tattooed Millionaire but is still more traditional-sounding than the follow-up album Skunkworks released in 1996. Later, Dickinson said that he and Roy Z were talked into making the album less heavy than it should have been.

Dickinson started working on his second solo album while still in Iron Maiden. For the very first recording sessions he recruited the british band Skin. Not satisfied with the style of the effort, Dickinson aborted the recording. His next attempt at a second solo album was a collaboration with producer Keith Olsen. Dickinson decided to scrap this project as well and teamed up with guitarist Roy Z and his band Tribe Of Gypsies to write and record Balls To Picasso. Songs from the previous recording sessions later resurfaced as b-sides on singles from Balls To Picasso and subsequently also as bonus tracks on the album's 2005 extended edition.

Skunkworks Live can be found on ''Anthology'' DVD (Disc 1) by Bruce Dickinson, released on June 19, 2006.

''Anthology'' is a 3 disc compilation DVD by Bruce Dickinson, the lead singer of Iron Maiden. The DVD features three live performances as well every single promotional video made during Bruce's solo career. The DVD also includes over an hour of extras and unreleased footage.

Bruce Dickinson interview 1996:
''Skunk works is the name of the design bureau of Lockheed Aviation company that very secret and advanced aircraft. Planes that can't be seen on radar and the Blackbird which is the worlds fastest and highest flying aeroplane. They designed the U-2, Americas first jetfighter back at the end of the second world war, the F-104 Starfighter, all kinds of really very revolutionary jetplanes. Skunk Works is their nickname which became the semi-official title. So we changed it from being two words to just one word. So on the cover it says Skunkworks.
...
So we thought...hhmm..if we can make records as they make aeroplanes...he he he!''

Originally, Bruce intended for Skunkworks to be the debut album of a band by the same name. However, the label would not publish the record under any other name than Bruce Dickinson. The album sounds quite different from Bruce's other solo works. Most songs in this album have the central theme being science and/or related themes. Furthermore, the songs are relatively short, with most running around 3 minutes. The band didn't last and for his next solo project, Accident of Birth, he teamed up with guitarist Roy Z.

In 2005, Skunkworks album was re-released and the 2005 extended version included songs performed live, such as "Inertia", "Faith", "Innerspace", "The Prisoner" and other previously unreleased songs.