Bruce Dickinson - 6. Meltdown (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

Meltdown (B. Dickinson/ A. Dickson)

[Lyrics]

Hey, you wait, cringing in the dark
You create what you always fear
A puppet of hatred dishing out poison

You use me for bait, you're begging bowls of lies
Chain letters of snivelling compromise

I can smell the difference, your truth and you're fiction
You and your twisted convictions

Were you my friend when I belonged?
Were you my friend when I was strong?
Were you my friend when I was weak?
Were you my friend when I was crawling, calling...
...out of my head?

Cold, like your blood
The snake is always cool (cool)
When things get tough

You slither on the ground
You cover up your tracks when I'm around

It's over now my friend
Your dog has had it's day
It's payback time, or what you had to say

You're stuck with the life you made
Stuck with the plans you made
Stuck with everything you are

Were you my friend when I belonged?
Were you my friend when I was strong?
Were you my friend when I was weak?
Were you my friend when I was crawling, calling...
...out of my head?

Everything's gonna happen now [x4]

Were you my friend when I belonged?
Were you my friend when I was strong?
Were you my friend when I was weak?
Were you my friend when I was crawling, calling...
...out of my head?

Crawling, calling...
...out of my head? [x2]
............................
Meltdown is a song from Bruce Dickinson's third solo album, Skunkworks, released in 1996.

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.

The intro and outro tapes that was used on the Skunkworks-tour was lifted from the obscure "Captain Lockheed and the Starfighters" album by Robert Calvert. The intro was the track "Catch a falling starfighter" and the outro was "The Gremlin II", which, by the way, has Arthur Brown on guest vocals.