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IRON MAIDEN LYRICS
"Live After Death" (1985 Live album)
1. Intro: Churchill Speech / Aces High
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
3. The Trooper
4. Revelations
5. Flight of Icarus
6. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
7. Powerslave
8. The Number of the Beast
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name
10. Iron Maiden
11. Run to the Hills
12. Running Free
13. Wrathchild
14. 22 Acacia Avenue
15. Children of the Damned
16. Die With Your Boots On
17. Phantom of the Opera
1. Intro: Churchill Speech / Aces High
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 airborn
Got to get up for the coming attack.
Jump in the cockpit and start up the engines
Remove all the wheelblocks
theres no time to waste
Gathering speep 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 of 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.
2. 2 Minutes to Midnight
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.
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
The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed
The glamour, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain
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.
The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed
The glamour, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain
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 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.
The killer’s breed or the demon’s seed
The glamour, the fortune, the pain
Go to war again, blood is freedom’s stain
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
Midnight... midnight... midnight... It's all night
Midnight... midnight... midnight... It's all night
3. The Trooper
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
4. Revelations
"O God of Earth and Altar,
Bow down and hear our cry,
Our earthly rulers falter,
Our people drift and die,
The walls of gold entomb us,
The swords of scorn divide,
Take not thy thunder from us,
But take away our pride."
Just a babe in the black abyss,
No reason for a place like this,
The walls are cold and souls cry out in pain,
An easy way for the blind to go,
A clever path for the fools who know
the Secret of the Hanged Man-the smile on his lips.
The light of the Blind-you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of the Nile are opening-you'll see.
She came to me with a serpent's kiss,
As the Eye of the Sun Rose on her lips,
Moonlight catches silver tears I cry,
So we lay in the black embrace,
And the Seed is sown in a holy place
And I watched, and I waited for the dawn.
The light of the Blind-you'll see,
The venom that tears my spine,
The Eyes of the Nile are opening-you'll see.
Bind all of us together,
Ablaze with Hope and Free,
No storm or heavy weather
Will rock the boat you'll see.
The time has come to close your eyes
And still the wind and rain,
For the one who will be King
Is the Watcher in the Ring,
It is You.
5. Flight of Icarus
As the sun breaks, above the ground,
An old man stands on the hill,
As the ground warms, to the first rays of light
A birdsong shatters the still.
His eyes are ablaze,
See the madman in his gaze.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly and touch the sun.
Now the crowd breaks and a young boy appears
Looks the old man in the eye
As he spreads his wings and shouts at the crowd
In the name of God my father I fly.
His eyes seem so glazed
As he flies on the wings of a dream,
Now he knows his father betrayed
Now his wings turn to ashes to ashes his grave.
Fly, on your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun,
On your way, like an eagle,
Fly as high as the sun.
6. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eye as he stops one of three
Mesmerises 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 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 and on at sea
And the thirst 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 there’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 he 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 the 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 pilots 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 shrieves the Mariner of his sins
The Mariner’s bound to tell of his story
To tell his 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
7. Powerslave
Into the Abyss I’ll fall-the eye of Horus
Into the eyes of the night, watching me go
Green is the cat’s eye that glows
in this Temple
Enter the risen Osiris-risen again
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don’t wanna die, I’m a God
why can’t I live on?
When the Life Giver dies
all around is laid waste
And in my last hour
I’m a slave to the Power of Death
When I was living this lie, fear was my game
People would worship and fall
drop to their knees
So bring me the blood and red wine
for the one to succeed me
for he is a man and a God
and He will die too.
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don’t wanna die, I’m a God
why can’t I live on?
When the Life Giver dies
all around is laid waste
And in my last hour
I’m a slave to the Power of Death
Now I am cold but a ghost lives in my veins
Silent the terror that reigned
marbled in stone
A shell of a man God preserved
for a thousand ages
But open the gates of my Hell
I will strike from my grave
Tell me why I had to be a Powerslave
I don’t wanna die, I’m a God
why can’t I live on?
When the Life Giver dies
all around is laid waste
And in my last hour
I’m a slave to the Power of Death
Slave to the Power of Death...
Slave to the Power of Death...
8. The Number of the Beast
"Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea
For the Devil sends the beast wrath
Because he knows the time is short
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
For it is a human number. It's number is six hundred and sixty six."
I left alone my mind was blank
I needed time to think 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
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name
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 I believe that there is never an end
As the guards march me out to the courtyard
Somebody calls from a cell "God be with you"
If there's a God then why has he let me go?
As I walk all my life drifts before me
And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Catch my soul, it's willing to fly away
Mark my words please believe my soul lives on
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
10. Iron Maiden
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 falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be faught, 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 falls upon the floor.
Iron Maiden can't be faught, Iron Maiden can't be sought.
11. Run to the Hills
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)
12. Running Free
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*
Puller here at the Bottle Top, whiskey, dancing, disco hop.
Now all the boys are after me, and that's the way it's gonna be
*Chorus*
13. Wrathchild
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.
*Chorus*
14. 22 Acacia Avenue
If you're feeling down depressed and lonely
I know a place where we can go
22 Acacia Avenue meet a lady that I know
So if you're looking for a good time
And you're prepared to pay the price
Fifteen quid is all she asks for
Everybody's got their vice
If you're waiting for a long time for the rest to do their piece
You can tell her that you know me and you might even get it free
So any time you're down the East End don't you hesitate to go
You can take my honest word for it she'll teach you more than you can know
Charlotte can't you get out from all this madness
Can't you see it only brings you sadness
When you entertain your men don't know the risk of getting disease
Some day when you're reaching the age of forty
I bet you'll regret the days when you were laying
Nobody then will want to know
You won't have any beautiful wares to show any more
22, the avenue that's the place where we all go
You will find it's warm inside the red light's burning bright tonight
Charlotte isn't it time you stopped this mad life
Don't you ever think about the bad times
Why do you have to live this way
Do you enjoy your lay or is it the pay
Sometimes when your strolling down the avenue
The way you walk it make men think of having you
When you're walking down the street
Everybody stops and turns to stare at you
22, the avenue that's the place where we all go
You will find it's warm inside the red light's burning bright tonight
Beat her mistreat her do anything that you please
Bite her excite her make her get down on her knees
Abuse her misuse her she can take all that you've got
Caress her molest her she always does what you want
You're running away don't you know what you're doing
Can't you see it'll lead you to ruin
Charlotte you've taken your life and you've thrown it away
You believe that because what you're earning
Your life's good don't you know that you're hurting
All the people that love you don't cast them aside
All the men that are constantly drooling
It's no life for you stop all that screwing
You're packing your bags and you're coming with me
15. Children of the Damned
He's walking like a small child
But watch his eyes burn you away
Black holes in his golden stare
God knows he wants to go home
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
He's walking like a dead man
If he had lived he would have crucified us all
Now he's standing on the last step
He thought oblivion well it beckons us all
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
Children of the damned
Now it burns his hand he's turning to laugh
Smiles as the flame sears his flesh
Melting his face, screaming in pain
Peeling the skin from his eyes
Watch him die according to plan
He's dust on the ground what did we learn
You're Children of the Damned
Your back's against the wall
You turn into the light
You're burning in the night
You're Children of the Damned
Like candles watch them burn
Burning in the light
You'll burn again tonight
You're Children of the Damned
16. Die With Your Boots On
Another Prophet of Disaster
Who says the ship is lost,
Another Prophet of Disaster
Leaving you to count the cost.
Taunting us with Visions,
Afflicting us with fear,
Predicting War for millions,
In the hope that one appears.
No point asking when it is,
No point asking who's to go,
No point asking what's the game,
No point asking who's to blame.
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
'cos if you're gonna die, if you're gonna die,
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on.
If you're gonna try, just stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
In 13 the Beast is rising,
The Frenchman did surmise,
Through earthquakes and starvation,
The warlord will arise.
Terror, Death, Destruction,
Pour from the Eastern Sands,
But the truth of all predictions,
Is always in your hands.
If you're gonna die, die with your boots on,
If you're gonna try, just stick around,
Gonna cry, just move along,
If you're gonna die, you're gonna die.
17. Phantom of the Opera
I've been looking so long for you now you won't get away from my grasp.
You've been living so long in hiding in hiding behind that false mask.
And you know and I know that you ain't got long now to last.
Your looks and your feelings are just the remains of your past.
You're standing in the wings, there you wait for the curtain to fall.
Knowing the terror and holding you have on us all.
Yeah, I know that you're gonna scratch me, maim me and maul.
You know I'm helpless from your mesmerising cat call.
Keep your distance, walk away, don't take his bait.
Don't you stray, don't fade away.
Watch your step, he's out to get you, come what may.
Don't you stray, from the narrow way.
I'm running and hiding in my dreams you're always there.
You're the Phantom of the Opera, you're the devil, you're just out to scare.
You damaged my mind and my soul it just floats through the air.
Haunt me, you taunt me, you torture me back at your lair.
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