Flight of Icarus Singles Chart. It is also the band's first release to feature Nicko McBrain, who replaced Clive Burr on drums in 1982. Despite being one of Iron Maiden's most famous songs, "Flight of Icarus" was not performed live after 1986 until it was finally performed again on May 26, 2018. The song is loosely based on the ancient Greek myth of Icarus who was imprisoned with his father Daedalus in the palace of Knossos on Crete. In an attempt to escape, the pair fabricated wings from feathers and wax so they could fly away. Unfortunately Icarus, not heeding the advice of
Golden mean (philosophy) flew up and up until the sun melted the wax off his wings. For not heeding the middle course, he fell into the sea and drowned. Another early elaboration is the Doric saying carved on the front of the temple at Delphi: ""Nothing in Excess"" ("Meden Agan"). The first work on the golden mean is sometimes attributed to Theano, wife of Pythagoras. To Cleobulus is attributed the maxim: "Mέτρον ἄριστον" "Moderation is best" Socrates teaches that a man must know "how to choose the mean and avoid the extremes on either side, as far as possible." In education, Socrates asks