Iron Maiden Lyrics to some of their most well-known songs.
2 Minutes to Midnight
Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson
Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we don't need a reason
The Golden Goose is on the loose
And never out of season
Some blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Here's my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death.
CHORUS
The killer's breed or the demon's seed,
The glamour, the fortune, the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,
But don't you pray for my soul anymore.
2 minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom.
2 minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb.
The blind men shout let the creatures out
We'll show the unbelievers
The napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time Belsen feast...YEAH!
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy,
We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.
CHORUS
The body bags and little rags of children torn in two
And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you.
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun.
CHORUS
Midnight...all night...
Aces High
Steve Harris
There goes the siren that warns of the air raid
Then comes the sound of the guns sending flak
Out for the scramble we've got to get airborne
Got to get up for the coming attack.
Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines
Remove all the wheel blocks there's no time to waste
Gathering speed as we head down the runway
Gotta get airborne before it's too late.
Running, scrambling, flying
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live. Aces high.
Move in to fire at the mainstream of bombers
Let off a sharp burst and then turn away
Roll over, spin round and come in behind them
Move to their blindsides and firing again.
Bandits at 8 O'clock move in behind us
Ten ME-109's out of the sun
Ascending and turning our spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them I press down my guns
Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving, going in again
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high.
Can I Play With Madness
Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris
Give me the sense to wonder
To wonder if I'm free
Give me a sense of wonder
To know I can be me
Give me the strength to hold my head up
Spit back in their face
Don't need no key to unlock this door
Gonna break down the walls
Break out of this bad place
Can I play with madness - the prophet stared at his crystal ball
Can I play with madness - there's no vision there at all
Can I play with madness - the prophet looked and he laughed at me
Can I play with madness - he said you're blind too blind to see
I screamed aloud to the old man
I said don't lie don't say you don't know
I say you'll pay for your mischief
In this world or the next
Oh and then he fixed me with a freezing glance
And the hell fires raged in his eyes
He said do you want to know the truth son
- I'll tell you the truth
Your soul's gonna burn in the lake of fire
Can I play with madness - the prophet stared at his crystal ball
Can I play with madness - there's no vision there at all
Can I play with madness - the prophet looked and he laughed at me
Can I play with madness - he said you're blind too blind to see
Can I play with madness - the prophet stared at his crystal ball
Can I play with madness - there's no vision there at all
Can I play with madness - the prophet looked and he laughed at me
Can I play with madness - he said you're blind too blind to see
Ghost Of The Navigator
(Gers/Dickinson/Harris)
I have sailed to many lands now I make my final journey
On the bow I stand, west is where I go
Through the night I plough still my heart, calculate and pray
As the compass swings my will is strong I will not be led astray
Mysteries of time clouds that hide the sun
But I know, I know
I see the ghost of navigators but they are lost
As they sail into the sunset they'll count the cost
As their skeletons accusing emerge from the sea
The sirens of the rocks, they beckon me
Take my heart and set it free
Carried forward by the waves
Nowhere left to run, Navigator's son
Chasing rainbows all my days
Where I go I do not know
I only know the place I've been
Dreams they come and go, ever shall be so
Nothing's real until you see
I steer between the crashing rocks, the sirens call my name
Lash my hands onto the helm, blood surging with the strain
I will not fail now as sunrise comes the darkness left behind
For eternity I follow on there is no other way
Mysteries of time clouds that hide the sun
But I know, I know
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Harris
I'm waiting in my cold cell when the bell begins to chime
Reflecting on my past life and it doesn't have much time
Cause at 5 o'clock they take me to the Gallows Pole
The sands of time for me are running low
When the priest comes to read me the last rites
I take a look through the bars at the last sights
Of a world that has gone very wrong for me
Can it be there's some sort of error
Hard to stop the surmounting terror
Is it really the end not some crazy dream
Somebody please tell me that I'm dreaming
It's not so easy to stop from screaming
But words escape me when I try to speak
Tears they flow but why am I crying
After all I am not afraid of dying
Don't believe that there is never an end
As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Someone calls from a cell "God be with you"
If there's a God then why has he let me die?
As I walk all my life drifts before me
And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Catch my soul cause it's willing to fly away
Mark my words please believe my soul lives on
Please don't worry now that I have gone
I've gone beyond to see the truth
When you know that your time is close at hand
maybe then you'll begin to understand
Life down there is just a strange illusion.
Murders In The Rue Morgue
Steve Harris
I remember it as plain as day
although it happened in the dark of the night.
I was strolling through the streets of Paris
and it was cold it was starting to rain.
And then I heard a piercing scream
and I rushed to the scene of the crime
but all I found was the butchered remains
of two girls lay side by side.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
someone call the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
run before the killers go free
There's some people coming down the street
at last there's someone heard my call
I can't understand why they're pointing at me
I never done nothing at all.
But I must have got some blood on my hands
because everyone's shouting at me
I can't speak French so I couldn't explain
and like a fool I started running away.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
someone call the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
am I ever gonna be free.
And now I've gotta get away from the arms of the law.
All France is looking for me.
I've gotta find my way across the border for sure
down the south to Italy.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
someone call the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
I'm never going home.
Well I made it to the border at last
But I can't erase the scene from my mind
Anytime somebody stares at me, well
I just start running blind
Well I'm moving through the shadows at night
Away from the staring eyes
Any day they'll be looking for me
'Cause I know I show the signs of...
Murders in the Rue Morgue
running from the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
running from the arms of the law
Murders in the Rue Morgue
running from the Gendarmes
Murders in the Rue Morgue
am I ever gonna be free
It took so long and I'm getting so tired
I'm running out of places to hide
Should I return to the scene of the crime
Where the two young victims died
If I could go to somebody for help
It'd get me out of trouble for sure
But I know that it's on my mind
That my doctor said I've done it before.
Murders in the Rue Morgue
they're never gonna find me
Murders in the Rue Morgue
I'm never going home.
Prowler
Steve Harris
Walking through the city, looking oh so pretty,
I've just got to find my way.
See the ladies flashing. All there legs and lashes.
I've just got to find my way.
Well you see me crawling through the bushes with it open wide.
What you seeing girl?
Can't you believe that feeling, can't you believe it,
Can't you believe your eyes?
It's the real thing girl.
Got me feeling myself and reeling around,
Got me talking but feel like walking around.
Got me feeling myself and reeling a...
Got me talking but nothing's with me...
Got me feeling myself and reeling around.
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Steve Harris
Hear the rime of the ancient mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea.
And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
Caught by his spell and the mariner tells his tale.
Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings.
And the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on.
The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime.
Sailing on and on and north across the sea
Sailing on and on and north 'til all is calm.
The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible curse a thirst has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hung.
And the curse goes on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and me.
"Day after day, day after day,
we stuck nor breath nor motion
as idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water everywhere and
all the boards did shrink
Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink."
There calls the mariner
There comes a ship over the line
But how can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tide.
See...onward she comes
Onward she nears out of the sun
See, she has no crew
She has no life, wait but here's two.
Death and she Life in Death,
They throw their dice for the crew
She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now.
Then...crew one by one
they drop down dead, two hundred men
She...she, Life in Death.
She lets him live, her chosen one.
"One after one by the star dogged moon,
too quick for groan or sigh
each turned his face with a ghastly pang
and cursed me with his eye
four times fifty living men
(and I heard nor sigh nor groan)
with heavy thump, a lifeless lump,
they dropped down one by one."
The curse it lives on in their eyes
The mariner wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he.
and by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too.
Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the rain.
Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes
And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on.
Now the curse is finally lifted
And the mariner sights his home
spirits go from he long dead bodies
Form their own light and the mariner's left alone.
And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The pilot's boat, his son and the hermit,
Penance of life will fall onto him.
And the ship sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrives the mariner of his sins.
The mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell this tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made.
And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on.
Run to the Hills
Harris
White man came across the sea
Brought us pain and misery
Killed our tribes killed our creed
Took our game for his own need
We fought him hard we fought him well
Out on the plains we gave him hell
But many came too much for Cree
Oh will we ever be set free?
Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes
Galloping hard on the plains
Chasing the redskins back to their holes
Fighting them at their own game
Murder for freedom a stab in the back
Women and children and cowards attack
Run to the hills run for your lives
Run to the hills run for your lives
Soldier blue on the barren wastes
Hunting and killing their game
Raping the women and wasting the men
The only good Indians are tame
Selling them whisky and taking their gold
Enslaving the young and destroying the old
Run to the hills run for your lives
(repeat to end)
The Number of the Beast
Harris
I left alone my mind was blank
I needed time to get the memories from my mind
What did I see can I believe that what I saw
that night was real and not just fantasy
Just what I saw in my old dreams were they
reflections of my warped mind staring back at me
Cause in my dreams it's always there the evil face that twists my mind
and brings me to despair
The night was black was no use holding back
Cause I just had to see was someone watching me
In the mist dark figures move and twist
was all this for real or some kind of hell
666 the Number of the Beast
Hell and fire was spawned to be released
Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised
as they start to cry hands held to the sky
In the night the fires burning bright
the ritual has begun Satan's work is done
666 the Number of the Beast
Sacrifice is going on tonight
This can't go on I must inform the law
Can this still be real or some crazy dream
but I feel drawn towards the evil chanting hordes
they seem to mesmerize me...can't avoid their eyes
666 the Number of the Beast
666 the one for you and me
I'm coming back I will return
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn
I have the fire I have the force
I have the power to make my evil take its course
The Thin Line Between Love And Hate
(Murray/Harris)
When a person turns to wrong
Is it a want to be, belong?
Part of things at any cost
At what price a life is lost
At what point do we begin
Fighter spirit a will to win
But what makes a man decide
Take the wrong or righteous road
There's a thin line between love and hate
Wider divide than you can see between good and bad
There's a grey place between black and white
But everyone does have the right to choose the path that he takes
We all like to put the blame
On society these things
But what kind of good or bad
A new generation brings
Sometimes takes just more than that
To survive be good at heart
There is evil in some of us
No matter what will never change
I will hope
My soul will fly
So I will live forever
Heart will die
My soul will fly
I will live forever
Just a few small tears between
Someone happy and one sad
Just a thin line drawn between
Being a genius or insane
At what age begin to learn
Or which way out we will turn
There's a long and winding road
And the trail is there to burn
There's a thin line between love and hate
Wider divide than you can see between good and bad
There's a grey place between black and white
But everyone does have the right to choose the path that he takes
I will hope
My soul will fly
So I will live forever
Heart will die
My soul will fly
And I will live forever
There's a thin line between love and hate
The Trooper
Steve Harris
You'll take my life but I'll take yours too
You'll fire your musket but I'll run you through
So when you're waiting for the next attack
You'd better stand there's no turning back.
The bugle sounds and the charge begins
But on this battlefield no one wins
The smell of acrid smoke and horses breath
As I plunge on into certain death.
The horse he sweats with fear we break to run
The mighty roar of the Russian guns
And as we race towards the human wall
The screams of pain as my comrades fall
We hurdle bodies that lay on the ground
And the Russians fire another round
We get so near yet so far away
We won't live to fight another day.
We get so close near enough to fight
When a Russian gets me in his sights
He pulls the trigger and I feel the blow
A burst of rounds take my horse below.
And as I lay there gazing at the sky
My body's numb and my throat is dry
And as I lay forgotten and alone
Without a tear I draw my parting groan
The Wicker Man
(Smith/Harris/Dickinson)
Hand of fate is moving and finger points to you
He knocks you to your feet and so what are you gonna do
Your tongue has frozen now you've got something to say
The piper at the gates of dawn is calling you his way
You watch the world exploding every single night
Dancing in the sun a new born in the light
Say goodbye to gravity and say goodbye to death
Hello to eternity and live for every breath
Your time will come
Your time will come
The ferryman wants his money you ain't going to give it back
He can push his own boat as you set up off the track
Nothing you can contemplate will ever be the same
Every second is a new spark, sets the universe aflame
You watch the world exploding every night
Dancing in the sun a new born in the light
Brothers and their fathers joining hands and make a chain
The shadow of the Wicker Man is rising up again
Your time will come
Your time will come
Wasted Years
Adrian Smith
From the coast of gold, across the seven seas,
I'm traveling on, far and wide,
But now it seems, I'm just a stranger to myself,
And all the things I sometimes do, it isn't me but someone else.
I close my eyes, and think of home,
Another city goes by, in the night,
Ain't it funny how it is, you never miss it till it's gone away,
And my heart is lying there and will be till my dying day.
Chorus:
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years,
Face up...make your stand,
And realize you're living in the golden years.
Too much time on my hands, I got you on my mind,
Can't ease this pain, so easily,
When you can't find the words to say, it's hard to make it through another day,
And it makes me wanna cry, and throw my hands up to the sky.
Chorus:
So understand
Don't waste your time always searching for those wasted years,
Face up...make your stand,
And realize you're living in the golden years.
