El Dorado Lyrics
Got to tell you a story on a cold winter's night
You'll be sailing for glory before you know what is right
So, come over here now, I got a vision for you
It's my personal snake oil, it's just something I do
[Pre-Chorus 1]
I'm the jester with no tears and I'm playing on your fears
I'm a trickster smiling underneath this mask of love and death
The eternal lie I've told about the pyramids of gold
I've got you hooked at every turn, your money's left to burn
(Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha)
[Verse 2]
You'll be wanting a contract, ha! You'll be waiting a while
I'd like to give you my contact but that isn't my style
Well, you only get one chance and it's too good to miss
If I didn't lie to you, then I wouldn't exist
[Pre-Chorus 2]
Greed, lust, and envy, pride, it's the same old, same old ride
The smoke-and-mirrors visions that you see are just like me
I'm a clever banker's face with just a letter out of place
I know someone just like you knows someone just like me
[Chorus]
El Dorado, come and play, El Dorado, step this way
Take a ticket for the ride
El Dorado, streets of gold, see my ship is oversold
You got one last chance to try
[Guitar Solos]
[Verse 3]
So gone is the glory and gone is the gold
Well, if you knew the story, how come it has to be told?
Well, you can say I'm a devil and I wouldn't say no
But out here on the dark side, hey! On with the show
[Pre-Chorus 3]
So, now my tale is told, big and bad and twice as bold
This ship of fools is sinking as the cracks begin to grow
There is no easy way for an honest man today
Which is something you should think on as my lifeboat sails away
[Chorus]
El Dorado, come and play, El Dorado, step this way
Take a ticket for the ride
El Dorado, streets of gold, see my ship is oversold
You got one last chance to try
El Dorado, come and play, El Dorado, step this way
Take a ticket for the ride
El Dorado, streets of gold, see my ship is oversold
You got one last chance to try
About
This song, which won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance (though Iron Maiden weren’t able to attend the ceremony) was the first single from the album and is narrated by a corrupt executive who profits from the global economic recession of the late 2000s, promising people he’d lead them to “a city of gold” but only walking away with their money.
[“El Dorado”] has a cynical lyric about the economic crap that’s been happening. It seemed a bit like a perfect storm; people were borrowing money like crazy. I thought, ‘This is really going to screw people up’ and sure enough, we’re all in deep doo-doo! And that’s what “El Dorado” is about, it’s about selling somebody the myth that ‘The streets are paved with gold’ and them asking, ‘Where do I sign up?’
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
- 2.El Dorado
- 4.Coming Home
- 7.Starblind
- 8.The Talisman
