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Iron Maiden - Powerslave lyrics



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01. Aces High

Music & lyrics by 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 heed 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 out spitfires to face them
Heading straight for them I press my guns.

Rolling, turning, diving
Rolling, turning, diving, goin' again
Run, live to fly, fly to live, do or die
Run, live to fly, fly to live, Aces high.

02. 2 Minutes To Midnight

Music & lyrics by Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith
Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we don't need a reason
To 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

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 glitter in 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
But don't you pray for my soul anymore.

2 minutes to midnight,
The hands that glitter in 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
But don't you pray for my soul anymore.

2 minutes to midnight,
The hands that glitter in 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

03. Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)

Music by Steve Harris
(Instrumental)

04. Flash Of The Blade

Music & lyrics by Bruce Dickinson
As a young boy chasing Dragons
with your wooden sword so mightily,
You're St. George you're David and you always
killed the beast
Times change very quickly
And you had to grow up early
A house in smoking rums and the bodies
at your feet

[Chorus:]
You'll die as you lived
In a flash of the blade
In a corner forgotten by no-one
You lived for the touch
For the feel of the steel
One man, and his Honour.

The smell of resined leather
The steely iron mask
As you cut and thrust and parried at the
fencing master's call
He taught you all he ever knew
To fear no mortal man
And now you'll wreak your vengeance in the
Screams of evil man.

05. The Duellists

Music & lyrics by Steve Harris
He threw down a glove you made the mistake
Of picking it up now you're gone
The choosing of guns or fighting with swords
The choice of weapons is gone
He'll tear you apart as soon as you start
You know you don't have a chance

[Chorus:]
OH...OH... Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for the Pleasure
OH...OH... Fight for the Honour
Fight for the Splendour
Fight for your Life!

Ready to start the duel begins
the best man wins in the end
A lunge and a feint, a parry too late
A cut to the chest and you're down
Seeing the stain then feeling the pain
Feeling the sweat on your brow

[Chorus:]
The fighting resumes, a silence looms the
Swordsman move 'gainst each other
A cut and a thrust, a parry, a blow
a stab to the heart and you're down
The Angel of Death hears your last breath
Meanwhile the reaper looks on

OH...OH... Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought for the Pleasure
OH...OH... Fought for the Honour
Fought for the Splendour
Fought to the Death

06. Back In The Village

Music & lyrics by Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Smith
Turn the spotlights on the people
Sitch the dial and eat the worm
Take your chances, kill the engine
Drop your bombs and let it burn

White flags shot to ribbons,
The truce in black and burned.
Shellshock in the kitchen.
Tables overturned

[Chorus:]
Back in the village again
In the village,
I'm back in the village again.

Throwing dice now, rolling loaded
I see sixes all the way,
In a black hole and I'm spinning
As my wings get shot away.

No breaks on the inside,
Paper cats and burning barns,
There's fox among the chickens,
And a killer in the hounds.

Questions are a burden
And answers are a prison for oneself
Shellshock in the kitchen
Tables start to burn.

[Chorus:]
But still we walk into the valley
And others try to kill the inner flame
We're burning brighter and before
I don't have a number, I'M A NAME!

Back in the village again
In the village
I'm back in the village again
Back in the village again
In the village

I'm back in the village
Back in the village
Back in the village again.

07. Powerslave

Music & lyrics by Bruce Dickinson
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 the Temple
Enter the risen Osiris - risen again.

[Chorus:]
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 Live 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.

[Chorus:]

Now I am cold but a ghost lives in my veins,
Silent the terror that reigned -
marbled in stone
Shell of man God preserved -
a thousand ages,
But open the gates of my hell -
I will strike from the grave

[Chorus:]
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 Live 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...

08. Rime Of The Ancient Mariner

Music & lyrics by Steve Harris, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
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 'till 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."

[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1798-1834)]

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
Onwards 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.

[NARRATIVE]
"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."

[SAMUEL TAYLOR COLERIDGE (1798-1834)]

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 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 Pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto Him.

And the ship it 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.

09. Rainbow's Gold

Music & lyrics by Kenny Mountain, Terry Slesser
In the heat of the morning
When your day is still dawning
And your bird, she's singing
Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away

Packed your bags in a hurry
Because your mind's in a worry
Mark my words, you're gonna be sorry if you ever fly away

Sweet little girl with the Saint Da Vinci-smile
Stares at me with sadness in her eyes
I'm not sure if she's really real or make-believe
Maybe she's a vision that comes to only me

'Cause I'm so tired
Yes I'm so tired
So tired
Yes I'm so tired

In the heat of the morning
When your day is still dawning
And your bird, she's singing
Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away

10. Mission From 'Arry

Music by Steve Harris, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Lyrics by Steve Harris
Steve: ...anyways, he did not deserve to get a bollocking... ...the time, I know why he got a bollocking, because you, you know, you dunno what the fuck he's goin' on about, but he didn't really deserve it.All he's trying to do is relay a message from me to you, right? And he went the wrong way about it, okay?

Nicko: Yeh, he did go the wrong way about it.

Steve: Well then.

Nicko: Well I'm, I, I, I, I tell you what, I mean it ain't gonna happen again.

Bruce: I don't see where you get steamed, I mean, if the truss was gonna...

Nicko: Why I got steamed up Bruce is because he fucked me right up. And I knew there was a problem, I still didn't know what it was even after he...I, I fucked! I fucking fucked up!

Steve: I know that. Look, it's like...

Nicko: ...and I stopped, and it was like "oh, for fuck's sake!" Come on kids, and I'm looking around... what is he trying to tell me? What's the problem?

Steve: Can't you understand? Can't you understand if I'm trying to get a fucking message through to ya, right?...I'd have still...it'd a been a lot worse. If I, if I had to go me gear done...as it happens, (snaps his fingers) just in the nick of the time I got it done. If I...

Nicko: Yeah, I still didn't get the message.

Steve: I know you didn't. But what we're saying, it didn't... whatever happens if I got him trying to get a fuckin' message to ya. Y'know what I mean?

Nicko: Sure Steve, but the fact is that the guy was not handling it the right way.

Steve: You don't think of things like that Nick.

Nicko: But that's diff... look...

Steve: I bollocked...I was shouting at ya, "look, my gear's gone down".

Nicko: It's me that fucked-up.

Steve: Listen...

Nicko: I'm the one out there all on me own...

Steve: I know.

Nicko: ...I'm doing a drum solo. And I've got fuckin' talkin'...

Steve: No I'm the one, I'm only one 'a thinking, I've got fucking like a minute to go before m...,to get this fucking gear right.

Bruce: Yeah, but if somebody gives a message to me...

Steve: No?

Bruce: ...I mean, it doesn't matter who it is, I mean, the message gets through.

Nicko: Bruce, it's different...

Steve: It's a different situation.

Nicko: ...it's different for you. You're not standing there all on your fucking own having asomebody try to get your attention and talk to you. I'm playin' a drum solo, and the guy'sstanding a yard, or two yards behind my drum riser goin'...

Steve: Yeah, all I'm trying a...

Nicko: ..."fucking anga-yangna-baba"..."wha?"..."BABA-BABA-BABA!"..."WHAAAA???" Fuck! Uhhhhh! By the time I've got that far, I'm fuckin totally fucked. Because I'm p..., I'm not paying attention to my gig...

Steve: Hey, look...

Nicko: ...I'm paying attention to what he's trying to tell me.

Bruce: Yeah, but nobody woulda noticed.

Steve: I complete...

Nicko: I noticed!

Steve: I completely understand that.

Nicko: Fucked me right up.

Steve: But he, he was only doing what I told him to do, and that was get a message to you. Now that the fucking heat of the moment and just, everything on hand... he don't think to fucking tell Bill, he wantsto get the message to you, not to fucking Bill, so he don't think of that, he just tries to get the message to you, right? So, he don't fucking deserve to get a bollocking for that, I mean, alright he got one I know... not sayin that. But I just don't, you know...

Bruce: Attente! Attente!

Steve: ...Bob was a nice guy. He's not like he's, fuckin', he's an asshole...

Nicko: No, no...

Steve: ...or an idiot, or anything like that.

Nicko: Oh no, but he was out of order, because he didn'...

Bruce: He wasn't out of order.

Nicko: He was.

Steve: He wasn't out of order. he was wrong.

Nicko: He was, 'cause he fucked me up by tryin to tell me...

Steve: Nicko.

Nicko: If he'd of come up to the riser...

Steve: Nicko.

Nicko: Look...

Steve: Nicko.

Nicko: ...if he'd of come up to the riser there, I COULDA FUCKIN HEARD HIM!!!

Steve: But Nick...

Nicko: Cunt was standin' behind, I was sittin' down.

Steve: Yeah...

Nicko: ..."bada-bada-ba"

Steve: He was wrong. He made a mistake, but he wasn't out of order.

Bruce: It wasn't deliberate.

Steve: He made a mistake...

Nicko: Now, I know it ain't deliberate.

Steve: ...for fuck's sake.

Nicko: I didn't know that at the time, right? I still didn't know that Steve had a problem with his bass...

Steve: That's what I'm saying.

Nicko: ...luckily enough, by the time I finished the poxy solo, he had his bass working again.

Steve: It was all that fucking grief...

Bruce: All it takes is the guy...

Nicko: The grief was, because I bollocked him up, and I happened to tell ya, and you go "don't bollock him, go out and apologize," right. Fuck him, I'm gonna go and apologize to him.

Bruce: Well all you gotta do...

Nicko: It's not for me to apologize. I bollocked him 'cause he fucked me up. Right there, he fucked me up.

He was wrong.

Bruce: All you gotta do...no he wasn't wrong.

Nicko: He was.

Steve: He wasn't wrong.

Nicko: He did not handle it...he's not even fucking communicating, right?

Steve: Aw! I don' wanna fuckin argue about this, it's fucking stupid... I think you're really out of order, I think...honestly.

Nicko: No bollocks! Oh I am not out of order.

Steve: You are. Your attitude is out of order.

Nicko: He...no it ain't.

Steve: It is.

Nicko: No it ain't. The guy fucked me up.

Steve: I know he did...

Nicko: Well then that's out of order...

Steve: ...He didn't mean to.

Nicko: LOOK, I'M NOT SAYIN HE FUCKIN' MEANT TO 'ARRY!!! The fact is that he was a dummkopf, 'cause he don't know how to fuckin communicate with me onstage...

Bruce: But he's not a dummkopf.

Nicko: Aww!

Steve: He's not fuckin' stupid.

Nicko: Well, he fuckin' certainly did a good job out there this afternoon, didn't he?

Steve: He made a mistake, because I...

Nicko: What do you mean "He made a mistake"?

Steve: Because I...

Nicko: You sent him. How could he make a mistake?

Steve: That's right.

Nicko: How did he make a mistake?

Steve: Well, he made the mistake by not sending Bill first, right?

Nicko: Well, well he made a mistake, right?

Steve: Yeah.

Nicko: Well, why?...

Bruce: There's a difference between making a mistake...

Steve: Well that's what I'm saying.

Bruce: ...and a difference between making a human error...

Nicko: Right, so he made a mistake, right?

Steve: Yeah!

Nicko: And I'm griefed up cause he fuckin' made me make a mistake. Now that he... now I can
understand what he was talking about after the fact... it remains to be seen, he was on a mission from you.

Steve: Aw, I'm not gonna argue about it.

Nicko: Right? Fuck my old boots, it just... I can't... I can't handle that situation when people grief, and it's important to me to get a message like that...fucking hell! How can I get some... get, get... when I also fucked as well... I would'na minded if I'd have gotten what it was happening straight. Like, on the end "all right, 'Arris got his bass fucked, right I'll carry on and do something else", then that's fine, if I didn't fuck-up... but he made me fuck. It totally threw me right out, and he wasn't...

Steve: I know it did.

Nicko: ...He didn't know how to talk to me about it. And, and I've, I've told him "don't do that again."

Steve: Because, see, it's not, it's not, it's not fair relaying a message to people. He was just...

Nicko: And he never turned 'round.

Steve: ...look, it coulda been anybody. It was just that he was the first one on hand.

Nicko: 'Arry.

Steve: He was just standing there.

Nicko: He never turned around, he never even turned around afterwards and said "Listen, did you?...I'm sorry , but you didn't understand what I was saying right?"

Steve: Well why should he?

Nicko: Well then, then, then because...

Steve: He got a fuckin' bollocking.

Nicko: ...He woulda stood up for himself because he knows he was gotten a bollocking wrong, because he was on a mission from you.

Steve: He was probably...

Bruce: No.

Steve: He was probably fuckin upset...

Bruce: He's probably a bit upset.

Steve: ...because you gave him a fucking bollocking.

Nicko: Well, rightly.

Steve: You gave him up for...as far as he's con...

Bruce: No, not rightly.

Nicko: Rightly, yeah.

Steve: But no, it's not rightly.

Bruce: No!

Nicko: I told him "DON'T EVER DO THAT AGAIN!"

Steve: No.

Bruce: That's crazy.

Steve: But what?...

Bruce: What happens if the lighting truss is gonna fall down on your head? Does he go?...

Nicko: Well then somebody drags me out of the fuckin' way, or else I'm dead, right?

Bruce: Yeah, but don't... I mean... you know.

Steve: I think your attitude is totally fucking out of order.

Nicko: No it ain't. No it ain't.

Steve: Yes it is.

Nicko: No it ain't. If I'd have known... now I'm the fuckin' cunt all of a sudden.

Steve: No, you're not the cunt.

Bruce: You're not a cunt.

Nicko: Because I told him he was out of order, and I didn't know he was on a mission from you to tell me that his bass, your bass was FUCKED!

Steve: I know you didn't.

Bruce: All you've got to do Nicko, is just go to the guy and say...

Steve: You didn't know, and he didn't know, alright?


Bruce: "Sorry about, sorry about shouting. It was a misunderstanding. But in future, tell Bill" that's all you gotta say.

Nicko: No. No.

Bruce: And that way, he's a fuckin' proud geezer...

Steve: What's, what's the matter with ya?

Bruce: He goes...

Nicko: Look...

Steve: 'Cause if this is some sorta pride thing or what?

Nicko: I bollocked him... no it ain't pride. It's, it's not fuckin' pride.

Steve: Well what's the matter with ya?

Bruce: It is pride.

Nicko: Oh bollocks!

Steve: What's the matter with ya?

Nicko: The guy was wrong to have been fuckin' there to do what he done.

Steve: I know. All I'm, all I'm gonna say is that when you're going up tomorrow...


Bruce: No it isn't wrong. What's he supposed to do? Turn around...

Steve: ...this is a different attitude, 'cause this is fucking stupid.

Nicko: I told him straight out not to do it again.

Bruce: What's he supposed to do? What's he?...

Nicko: I'm not gonna go out and apologize for saying that to him...

Bruce: He's NOT!

Nicko: ...He was outta fuckin' order.

Bruce: He's not out of order.

Bruce: what happens...

Nicko: Bruce.

Bruce: ...if I fucking go and tell somebody to do something, he goes "No, fuck off! I'm not gonna do that."

Nicko: Listen, Bruce...

Bruce: Then he's out of order.

Nicko: Bruce...

Bruce: But he goes and tells him to go and do something...

Nicko: ...I'm not concerned with, with, with, with, with other people that can't fucking talk to me on stage, who don't know how to fucking communicate with me...

Bruce: But he's not out of order trying to do it.

Nicko: ...He did not know how to communicate with me.

Steve: Some cunt's recording this!

11. King Of The Twilight

Music & lyrics by Albrighton, Freeman, Howden, Moore
I've been trying, trying so hard
I've been crying, crying in the dark
Don't forsake me, the time of mine is near
Don't ever break me and the world that brought me here

Sick and lonely, waiting for you
Sick and lonely, wondering what to do
Can you hear me, when I say to you
You give me your hand, I'll give mine to you

When the king of twilight shows me
I will take ten steps to see
Forty leaves I pay for freedom

For a chance to be free
For a chance to be free

When the king of twilight calls you
Take a step and you will see
We all need a quick solution

For a chance to be free
For a chance to be free
Free

When the king of twilight shows me
I will take ten steps to see
Forty leaves I pay for freedom

For a chance to be free
For a chance to be
Free.

12. The Number Of The Beast

Music by Dave Murray, Steve Harris
Lyrics by Steve Harris
Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea, for the Devil sends the beast with 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
Its 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?

'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 just 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 are 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 just some crazy dream?
But I feel drawn towards the chanting hordes
They seem to mesmerise...
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