Wasted Years

Synopsis

The song deals with subject of homesickness and alienation, as well as the negative aspects of the band's nearly year long previous tour and personal problems that Smith and other band members were going through in that period.

The cover depicts the band mascot Eddie's point of view as he flies a time machine. Only a part of Eddie's face is seen, as a reflection in a screen. According to artist Derek Riggs, this is because the band did not want to reveal the mascot in his new cyborg guise until the album was released a few weeks later. As with the Somewhere in Time album sleeve, the single cover also features the TARDIS from the BBC series Doctor Who. Riggs describes the illustration as "a duffer. It's a technical illustration of a keyboard of a time machine, with Eddie reflected in the window, because it was the only thing we could think of that wouldn't give Eddie away".

Live performances

Adrian Smith has performed the song live with his bands Psycho Motel and Smith/Kotzen, performing the lead vocals himself.

Track listing

;7" single ;12" single

Cover performances

American singer-songwriter Ryan Adams covered "Wasted Years" in 2013 for the soundtrack to the sixth season of the television series Californication. The cover received a negative review from Spin, which called it "neutered" and said "the alt-folk champ’s vocal performance is as maudlin as the lyrics are now revealed to be, liberated as they are from their original badass trappings."

Personnel

Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl cover.

Iron Maiden

• Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals; backing vocals on "Reach Out"
• Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals; lead vocals on "Reach Out"
• Dave Murray – guitar
• Steve Harris – bass
• Nicko McBrain – drums

Production

• Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing
• Derek Riggs – cover illustration
• Aaron Rapoport – photography

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Notes

References

References

1. (23 August 1994). "New Singles".
2. Iron Maiden - Flight 666 DVD, History Of Iron Maiden pt 2
3. (2006). "Run for Cover: The Art of Derek Riggs". Aardvark Publishing.
4. (2006). "Run for Cover: The Art of Derek Riggs". Aardvark Publishing.
5. (21 January 2022). "Watch Adrian Smith and Richie Kotzen perform Iron Maiden's Wasted Years at their debut Smith/Kotzen gig".
6. Martins, Chris. (2013-01-12). "Ryan Adams Neuters Iron Maiden’s ‘Wasted Years’ For ‘Californication’ Soundtrack".
7. (6 September 1986). "''"Wasted Years" 7 Inch Single''". [[EMI]].
8. "Iron Maiden - Wasted Years - ultratop.be".
9. Pennanen, Timo. (2006). "Sisältää hitin - levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972". Tammi.
10. "Irish singles archive". Irishcharts.ie.
11. Top 40, Stichting Nederlandse. "Iron Maiden - Wasted Years {{!}} Top 40".
12. Hung, Steffen. "Iron Maiden - Wasted Years".
13. "charts.org.nz - Iron Maiden - Wasted Years".
14. "Top 40 Official Singles Chart UK Archive 13 September 1986". [[Official Charts Company]].
15. "Top 40 Official Albums Chart UK Archive 14 April 1990". [[Official Charts Company]].
16. "Jaaroverzichten 1986". [[MegaCharts]].