Empire of the Clouds story of the R101 airship, which crashed on its maiden voyage in northern France on 5 October 1930. The song was written entirely by the band's lead vocalist, Bruce Dickinson, who initially intended it to be about "World War I fighter airplanes;" Dickinson abandoned the idea after using the same theme for the song "Death or Glory," also from "The Book of Souls". At the time of recording, Dickinson was reading "a big, sort of encyclopedic crash report" of the R101, entitled "To Ride the Storm", which gave him the idea for the song's eventual subject. Dickinson describes it as
When the Lilies Bloom in France Again a metaphor to assure listeners of hope and that everything will be restored at the end of the war. It also highlights a promise a soldier makes: "When the lilies bloom in France again," the soldier will return to his sweetheart. The song starts by describing lilies growing and birds singing in France. This scenery is now bare, but "the flowers will bloom again, That's a part of every soldier's vow." The chorus is as follows: When the Lilies Bloom in France Again "When the Lilies Bloom in France Again" is a World War I era song released in 1918.