Veteran of the Psychic Wars

"Veteran of the Psychic Wars" is a song by the American hard rock band Blue Öyster Cult. It was written by Eric Bloom and British author Michael Moorcock[1] (creator of Elric of Melniboné). The song first appeared on the 1981 album Fire of Unknown Origin. An extended live version appears on the 1982 album Extraterrestrial Live. It also appears on the soundtrack of the 1981 animated film Heavy Metal.

"Veteran of the Psychic Wars"
Song by Blue Öyster Cult
from the album Fire of Unknown Origin
ReleasedJuly 1981
Genre
Length4:49
LabelColumbia
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)Martin Birch

The phrase "...veteran of a Thousand Psychic Wars" is from the Hawkwind song "Standing at the Edge," from the album Warrior on the Edge of Time (1975), which also dealt with the myth of the Eternal Champion and contained lyrics written by Moorcock.[2] Prior to that, it appears as a line in the poem "Far Arden" by Jim Morrison of The Doors.

The song has been covered by the Finnish metal band Tarot,[3] Metallica at the Bridge School Benefit,[4] and Arjen Anthony Lucassen.

Critical reception

In a article published by The A.V. Club writer Jason Heller describes the song as a "pseudo-mystical post-Vietnam parable." Writing that "Veteran of the Psychic Wars" was the dead center of Heavy Metal’s admittedly amorphous core, he further stated "The drums are tribal. The synths hum like incantations. The guitar is minimal, applied with ritualistic precision" [5]

Personnel

References
  1. "Fire of Unknown Origin". Blueoystercult.com. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  2. "Veteran of the Psychic Wars". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  3. "Tarot and Charon live in Finland". Metal-Rules.com. 2004-03-05. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  4. "Chapter Inc.: The REAL Encyclopedia Metallica". Chapinc.com. 2007-10-28. Retrieved 2012-05-25.
  5. Heller, Jason. "Blue Öyster Cult's "Veteran Of The Psychic Wars" is even bigger than the movie that inspired it". AV Club. Av Club. Retrieved 13 April 2018.


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