Songfacts®:

• After the extensive ground disturbance caused by the fighting in World War I, a sea of bright red poppies bloomed in between the trench lines and no man's lands on the Western Front. They have since become commonly used in western countries on and before Remembrance Day each year, as a symbol of remembrance inspired by John McCrae's poem "In Flanders Fields."
  
  This song title was inspired by "In Flanders Fields," which has stuck with Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford since he was a kid. He explained to Billboard: "It's amazing how sometimes messages take forever... Like 'Loch Ness' - I had that idea for twenty-five years before it was made (on 2005 album Angel of Retribution). "'Sea Of Red' offers this sense of afterlife, hope, belief beyond the physical plane. That's very hippie-ish, isn't it?"
• Guitarist Richie Faulkner recalled the day when Halford showed up to the studio with the lyrics to "Sea of Red". "We pretty much had the music there," the guitarist recollected. "Rob came in and sang this poem, and I remember thinking it was unbelievable. It was, like, goosebump territory. You could see the movie in your mind. It was really heartfelt, about remembrance and people who gave their lives. It was a really touching sentiment to hear for the first time."