Defender (song)
Defender is a song by the American true metal band Manowar that has been released in several versions. It is considered one of the classics of the band, after which the Dutch band Defender, founded in 1984, was named.
Emergence
Defender was written by Manowar bassist Joey DeMaio . For the spoken passages, the band wanted to win the actor Orson Welles , whom they saw as the "ultimate speaking voice". According to DeMaio, the band had problems getting their music out and finding a record company; Welles described the musicians as outsiders like himself. Presumably he recognized the band's difficulties and therefore helped them out. Welles heard the music and liked the lyrics and only helped the band for artistic reasons, the band couldn't have paid him. In contrast to the song Dark Avenger , in which Welles can also be heard, Defender did not appear on the 1982 debut Battle Hymns , but was released in 1983 as a single with the B-side Gloves of Metal ; DeMaio justified this decision with the fact that the song was different from the one on the album and that it should be something special by being released as a single. DeMaio told the daily newspaper that it was originally planned to let actor Christopher Lee speak the text passage . A new version, also with the passages spoken by Welles, appeared in 1987 and thus after Welles' death on Manowar's fifth album Fighting the World .
1994 Defender was released in a completely remixed version on Geffen Records with the B-side Hatred (also remixed) for the first time on CD. The original version of the 1983 mix is only available on the 1983 vinyl to this day.
text
The part of the text spoken by Orson Welles is the content of a letter from a father to his son whom he never met. He tells him that it is his mission to defend the helpless who look up to him and that for the same reason he himself had to go and not see his son grow up.
In the second part, the son, whose passages are sung by Adams, replies that he looks up at his father and that this letter ends his search. He announces that he will live the dream of his father that has been passed on to him.
music
Defender begins with the sounds of an acoustic guitar to which Orson Welles speaks the father's part; Philipp von dem Knesebeck from Powermetal.de describes the song as "a radio play with background music". After about three minutes or about two and a half minutes in the album version, Eric Adams, who takes over the son's part, replies "in normal MANOWAR screeching". In the part in which the son asks Zauberer for their support, you can hear stopped guitars in the background, which are more prominent in the album version than in the original. After the verse and a solo , the refrain of Welles and Adams is spoken in a duet or sung this in the original version and twice on the album by the end of decaying song.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Manu: MANOWAR - Fighting The World .
- ↑ Steen: Manowar - Fighting The World ( Memento of the original from November 21, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .
- ↑ Kostas Kaliazis: DEFENDER - New Valley .
- ↑ David Quantick: VISIGOTHS SCOFFED MY BACON SANDWICH . In: New Musical Express USA , March 3, 1984.
- ↑ PENIS ENVY . In: Sounds , 1990.
- ↑ Mr. Bernard Doe: MANOWAR . Bernard Doe slips on his loin cloth and jumps into his fur boots to discover the Barbarians of brazen rock! . In: Metal Forces , No. 2.
- ↑ Corinna Stegemann, Max Lampin: "Wagner is the greatest!" In: the daily newspaper , September 3, 2005.
- ^ A b Philipp von dem Knesebeck: Manowar - Fighting The World .
