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Ex-IRON MAIDEN Singer PAUL DI'ANNO: 'Running Free' Is Basically My Song

November 21, 2014

Greg Prato of Songfacts recently conducted an interview with former IRON MAIDEN singer Paul Di'Anno. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Songfacts: Do you still enjoy singing the MAIDEN classics?

Paul: Yeah, I do. There are days where you don't really want to do it. You feel like, "Oh God, what am I doing?" You know, we've done it for so long on and off and I've been lazy — I don't make records, which I should do! I just think, Oh God, I'm going to be stuck doing this for the rest of my life. There are days when I say, "I don't want to do this," but as soon as I get on the stage, everything's fine. We play a lot heavier, as well.

Songfacts: How would you describe the songwriting in IRON MAIDEN?

Paul: Well, it's [IRON MAIDEN bassist] Steve Harris, isn't it? [Laughs] Steve's band, Steve's rules, Steve does what he wants, and if you're lucky, you get to write the odd song.

Songfacts: But as far as the songs that you had a hand in writing, such as "Remember Tomorrow" and also "Running Free", was it the lyrics that you contributed?

Paul: Yeah, I did some of that. "Running Free" is basically my song. I asked Steve to play this certain bass line, he did, and I actually ended up getting a songwriting credit. I thought, "Oh... great!" But Steve would have an idea and I would make up some lyrics on the spot, or make up some sort of melody line, and then we'd just carry on with it after.

Songfacts: Regarding the song "Running Free", did you pretty much write all the music, as well?

Paul: Yeah. I had the idea for it all. I stole the idea off of Gary Glitter, with a drumbeat and stuff like that. I wanted that kind of vibe and feel for it. It's quite simple. I think it was "Rock And Roll, Parts One And Two" — it was the same drum beat, we just sped it up a little bit.

Read the entire interview at Songfacts.

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