Iron Maiden Album

(Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers)

Covered in sinners and dripping with gilt
Making you money from slime and from filth
Parading your bellies in ivory towers
Investing our lives in your schemes and your powers

You got to watch them - Be quick or be dead
Snake eyes in heaven - The thief in your head
You've got to watch them - Be quick or be dead
Snake eyes in heaven - The thief in your head...
Be quick!
Or be dead!
Be quick!
Or be dead

See... what's ruling all our lives
See... who's pulling the strings...
I bet you won't fall on your face...
Your belly will hold you in place

The serpent is crawling inside of your ear
He says you must vote for what you want to hear
Don't matter what's wrong as long as you're alright
So pull yourself stupid and rob yourself blind

(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

Cos 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
Cos 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 mesmerise 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

(Steve Harris)

I was born into a scene of angriness and greed, and dominance and persecution.
My mother was a queen, my dad I've never seen, I was never meant to be.
And now I spend my time looking all around,
For a man that's nowhere to be found.
Until I find him I'm never gonna stop searching,
I'm gonna find my man, gonna travel around.

*Chorus*:
'Cos I'm a wrathchild, well I'm a wrathchild.
Yeah I'm a wrathchild. I'm coming to get you, oooh yeah.

Say it doesn't matter ain't nothin' gonna alter the course of my destination.
I know I've got to find some serious piece of mind, or I know I'll go crazy.
But now I spend my time looking all around,
For a man thats nowhere to be found.
Until I find him I'm never gonna stop searching,
I'm gonna find my man, gonna travel around.

(Steve Harris)

She fell in love with his greasy machine
She leaned over wiped his head kickstart clean
She'd never seen the beast before
But she left there wanting more more more
But when she was walking on down the road
She heard a sound that made her heart explode
He whispered to her to get on the back
"I'll take you on a ride from here to eternity"

Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity

She must be having one of her crazy dreams
She'd never sat on a piece so mean
It made her feel like she's on cloud nine
She even thought she heard the engine sigh

But like all dreams that come to an end
They took a tumble at the devil's bend
The beast and Charlotte they were two of a kind
They'd always take the line...
from here to eternity

Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity
Hell ain't a bad place
Hell is from here to eternity

(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

(Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers)

Maybe one day I'll be an honest man
Up till now I'm doing the best I can
Long roads, long days, of sunrise, to sunset
Sunrise to sunset

Dream on brother, while you can
Dream on sister, I hope you find the one
All of our lives, covered up quickly by the tides of time

Spend your days full of emptiness
Spend your years full of loneliness
Wasting love, in a desperate caress
Rolling shadows of nights

Dream on brother, while you can
Dream on sister, I hope you find the one
All of our lives, covered up quickly by the tides of time

Sands are flowing and the lines are in your hand
In your eyes I see the hunger, and the desperate cry that tears the night

(Steve Harris, Bruce Dickinson)

Trace your way back 50 years
To the glow of Dresden-blood and tears
In the black above by the cruel searchlight
Men will die and men will fight-yeah!
Who shot who and who fired first?
Dripping death to whet the bloodthirst
No radar lock on-skin and bone
The bomber boys are going home

chorus

Climb into the sky never wonder why-tailgunner
You're a tailgunner

(repeat)

Nail that Fokker kill that son.
Gonna blow your guts out with my gun
The weather forecasts good for war
Cologne and Frankfurt?Have some more!
Tail end Charlie in the boiling sky
The Enola Gay was my last try
Now that this tailgunner's gone
No more bombers (just one big bomb)

chorus

(Adrian Smith, Bruce Dickinson, Steve Harris)

Love is a razor and I walked the line on that silver blade
Slept in the dust with his daughter, her eyes red with
The slaughter of innocence
But I will pray for her
I will call her name out loud
I would bleed for her
If only I could see her now

Living on a razors edge
Balancing on a ledge
Living on a razors edge

The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....
The evil that men do lives on and on.....

Circle of fire my baptism of joy at an end it seems
The seventh lamb slain, the book of life opens before me
But I will pray for you
And some day I may return
Don't you cry for me
Beyond is where I learn

(Steve Harris)

Lying awake at night I wipe the sweat from my brow
But it's not the fear 'cos
I'd rather go now

Trying to visualize the horrors that will lay ahead
The desert sand mound a burial ground

When it comes to the time
Are we partners in crime?
When it comes to the time
We'll be ready to die

God let us go now and finish what's to be done
Thy Kingdom Come
Thy shall be done... on earth

Trying to justify to ourselves the reasons to go
Should we live and let live
Forget or forgive

But how can we let them go on this way?
The reign of terror corruption must end
And we know deep down there's no other way
No trust, no reasoning, no more to say

Afraid to shoot strangers
Afraid to shoot strangers

(Steve Harris)

I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park

When the light begins to change
I sometimes feel a little strange
A little anxious when it's dark

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there

Have you run your fingers down the wall
And have you felt your neck skin crawl
When you're searching for the light?
Sometimes when you're scared to take a look
At the corner of the room
You've sensed that something's watching you

Have you ever been alone at night
Thought you heard footsteps behind
And turned around and no one's there?
And as you quicken up your pace
You find it hard to look again
Because you're sure there's someone there

Watching horror films the night before
Debating witches and folklores
The unknown troubles on your mind
Maybe your mind is playing tricks
You sense, and suddenly eyes fix
On dancing shadows from behind

Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have constant fear that something's always near
Fear of the dark, fear of the dark
I have a phobia that someone's always there

When I'm walking a dark road
I am a man who walks alone

(Bruce Dickinson)

Honey its getting close to midnight
And all the myths are in town
True love and lipstick on your linen
Bite the pillow make no sound
If there's some living to be done
Before your life becomes your tomb
You'd better know that I'm the one
So unchain your back door invite me around

Honey its getting close to daybreak
The sun is creeping in the sky
No patent remedies for heartache
Just empty words and humble pie

So get down on your knees honey
Assume an attitude
You just pray that I'll be waiting
Cos you know I'm coming soon

So pick up your foolish pride, no going back
No where, no way, no place to hide

Bring your daughter, bring your daughter to the slaughter
Let her go, let her go, let her go

(Steve Harris)

Feel the sweat break on my brow
Is it me or is it shadows that are
Dancing on the walls
Is this a dream or is it now
Is this a vision or normality I see
Before my eyes

I wonder why I wonder how
That it seems the powers getting stronger
Every day
I feel a strength an inner fire
But I'm scared I won't be able to control it anymore

There's a time to live and a time to die
When it's time to meet the maker
There's a time to live but isn't it strange
That as soon as you're born you're dying

Just by looking through your eyes
He could see the future penetrating right
In through your mind
See the truth and see your lies
But for all his power couldn't foresee his own demise

There's a time to live and a time to die
When it's time to meet the maker
There's a time to live but isn't it strange
That as soon as you're born you're dying...
... and reborn again?

(Harris)

Can't understand what is happening to me,
This isn't real, this is only a dream,
But I never have felt, no I never have felt this way before,
I'm looking down on my body below,
I lie asleep in the midst of a dream,
Is it now could it be that the angel of death has come for me?
I can't believe that really my time has come,
I don't feel ready, there's so much left undone,
And it's my soul and I'm not gonna let it get away.

Chorus:
Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait,
Heaven can wait til another day.

[Reapeat chorus]

I have a lust for the Earth below
And Hell itself is my only foe,
'Cause I've no fear of dying,
I'll go when I'm good and ready,
I snatch a glimpse of the light's eternal rays,
I see a tunnel, I stand amazed,
At all of the people standing there in front of me,
Into the paths of rightness I'll be led,
Is this the place where the living join the dead?
I wish I knew this was only just a nightmare.

[Chorus *2]

Take my hand, I'll lead you to the promised land,
Take my hand, I'll give you immortality,
Eternal youth, I'll take you to the other side,
To see the truth, the path for you is decided.

Oh Oh * lots.

My body tingles, I feel so strange,
I feel so tired, I feel so drained,
And I'm wondering if I'll ever be the same again,
Is this in limbo or in Heaven or Hell?
Maybe I'm going down there as well,
I can't accept my soul will drift forever.
I feel myself floating back down to Earth,
So could this be the hour of my rebirth?
Or have I died or will I wake from dreaming?

[Chorus]

(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 dustclouds 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)

(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...

Won't you come into my room,
I wanna show you all my wares.
Want to see your blood,
Want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow
as it pours upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be fought,
Iron Maiden can't be sought.

Chorus:

Oh Well, wherever,
Wherever you are,
Iron Maiden's gonna get you,
No matter how far.
See the blood flow watching it shed
Up above my head.
Iron Maiden wants you for dead.

Won't you come into my room,
I wanna show you all my wares.
I just want to see your blood,
I just want to stand and stare.
See the blood begin to flow
As it pours upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be fought,
Iron Maiden can't be sought.

(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
Cos 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 cos 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.

(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

(Steve Harris, Paul Di'anno and Dave Murray)

Out of the winter came a war horse of steel.
I've never killed a woman before, but I know how it feels.

*Chorus*:
I know you'd have gone insane if you saw what I saw.
So now I've got to look for sanctuary from the law.
So give me sanctuary from the law and I'll be alright.
Just give me sanctuary from the law and love me tonight, tonight.

I met up with a 'slinger last night to keep me alive.
He spends all his money on gambling and guns to survive.

*Chorus*

I can laugh at the wind, I can howl at the rain.
Down in the Canyon or out in the plain.

(Steve Harris and Paul Di'anno)

Just sixteen, a pickup truck, out of money, out of luck.
I've got nowhere to call my own, hit the gas, and here I go.

*Chorus*:
I'm running free yeah, I'm running free.
I'm running free yeah, Oh I'm running free.

Spent the night in an L. A. jail, and listened to the sirens wail.
They ain't got a thing on me, I'm running wild, I'm running free.

*Chorus*

Pulled her at the Bottle Top, whiskey, dancing, disco hop.
Now all the boys are after me, and that's the way it's gonna be