"Can I Play with Madness" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The song is the sixteenth single released by the band. Released in 1988, it was the first single from their seventh studio album, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son (1988), and hit number 3 in the UK Singles Chart.
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.
Cash Box called it "raging, pulsating metal that should shake up a few speaker cabinets and damage eardrums."[2]
Music video
The video of the song, directed by Julian Doyle, was set at Tintern Abbey and Chislehurst Caves, and features Monty Python’s 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 including Iron Maiden's mascot Eddie in his sketch of the abbey ruins. The teacher then falls down a hole in the ground, discovers an underground vault and finally encounters an animated version of Eddie, who leers at him from inside a refrigerator. The band appears on a TV screen showing footage from "Run to the Hills" and "The Number of the Beast" promotional videos and the Live After Death concert film. Adrian Smith is shown playing left-handed, suggesting a reversed image.
Track listing
7-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Can I Play With Madness" | Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris | 3:31 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black Bart Blues" | Dickinson, Harris | 6:39 |
12-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Can I Play With Madness" | Smith, Dickinson Harris | 3:31 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Black Bart Blues" | Dickinson, Harris | 6:39 |
| 2. | "Massacre" (Thin Lizzy Cover) | Phil Lynott, Scott Gorham, Brian Downey | 2:54 |
"Black Bart Blues"
"Black Bart Blues" appears as a B-side of the "Can I Play with Madness" single. The song is about the suit of armour that rode in the back lounge of the band's tour buses (named Black Bart). Vocalist Bruce Dickinson tells that he, his bandmates and their tour manager were driving in a Ford Thunderbird through Florida in 1983, when they passed a gas station with three suits of armour standing outside. Dickinson stopped the car and went to buy one of the three suits of armour that were on sale. The song's lyrics detail a rather infamous story in which a girl stumbled onto the band's tour bus and struck a deal with one of the band members that she'd give them oral sex in exchange for alcohol.
The song ends with clips of drummer Nicko McBrain that were taken during the Seventh Son of a Seventh Son sessions.
Personnel
Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover.[3]
- Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Adrian Smith – guitar, synthesiser
- Steve Harris – bass guitar
- Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
- Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing
- Derek Riggs – cover illustration
- Ross Halfin – photography
Charts
| Chart (1988) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australia (Kent Music Report)[4] | 58 |
| Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[5] | 37 |
| Europe (Eurochart Hot 100)[6] | 10 |
| Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[7] | 2 |
| Ireland (IRMA)[8] | 3 |
| Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[9] | 14 |
| Netherlands (Single Top 100)[10] | 6 |
| New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[11] | 7 |
| Norway (VG-lista)[12] | 4 |
| Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[13] | 12 |
| Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[14] | 23 |
| UK Singles (OCC)[15] | 3 |
| US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)[16] | 47 |
| West Germany (GfK)[17] | 23 |
| Chart (1990) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| UK Albums (OCC)[15][a] with "The Evil That Men Do" |
10 |
Notes
- ^ Re-release of all four singles as part of The First Ten Years box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK singles chart.
References
- ^ "New Singles". Music Week. 12 March 1988. p. 39.
- ^ "Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. 21 May 1988. p. 12. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
- ^ "Can I Play with Madness" 7 Inch Single (Media notes). Iron Maiden. EMI. 20 March 1988.
{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 149. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 15. 9 April 1988. p. 26.
- ^ "Top 3 in Europe". Music & Media. Vol. 5, no. 19. 7 May 1988. p. 22.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Can I Play with Madness". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 20, 1988" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness". VG-lista. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ a b "Iron Maiden: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Iron Maiden Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
- ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Iron Maiden – Can I Play with Madness" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 4 February 2025.
