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The Number Of The Beast – Lyrics
 
The Number Of The Beast

The Number Of The Beast

22nd March 1982

1. Invaders (Harris)
2. Children Of The Damned (Harris)
3. The Prisoner (Smith, Harris)
4. 22, Acacia Avenue (Harris, Smith)
5. The Number Of The Beast (Harris)
6. Run To The Hills (Harris)
7. Gangland (Smith, Burr)
8. Total Eclipse (Harris, Murray, Burr)
9. Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)

Album Commentary

 

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  Invaders [3:22] (Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    Longboats have been sighted and the evidence of war has begun
    Many Nordic fighting men their swords and shields gleam in the sun
    Call to arms defend yourselves get ready to stand and fight for your lives
    Judgement day has come around so be prepared don't run stand your ground

      They're coming in from the sea they've come, the enemy!
      Beneath the blazing sun the battle has to be won
      Invaders... Pillaging!
      Invaders... Looting!

    Set ablaze the campfires and alert the other men from inland
    Warning must be given and there's not enough men here for a stand
    The Vikings are too many, much too powerful to take on our own
    We must bring reinforcements we cannot fight this battle alone

      They're coming over the hill they've come to attack!
      They're coming in for the kill there's no turning back
      Invaders... Fighting!
      Invaders... Marauding!

    (1:51 – Solo: Dave Murray)
    (2:09 – Solo: Adrian Smith)

    Axes grind and maces clash as wounded fighters fall to the ground
    Severed limbs and fatal woundings bloody corpses lay all around
    The smell of death and burning flesh the battle weary fight to the end
    The Saxons have been overpowered victims of the mighty Norsemen

      You'd better scatter and run the battle's lost and not won
      You'd better get away to fight another day
      Invaders... Raping!
      Invaders... Plundering!


 

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  Children Of The Damned [4:33] (Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    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 his 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's burning his hands 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?

    (3:21 – Solo: Adrian Smith)

    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

      Children of the damned


 

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  The Prisoner [6:00] (Smith, Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    We want information... information... information...
    Who are you? – The new number two.
    Who is number one? – You are number six.
    I am not a number! I am a free man!

    I'm on the run I kill to eat
    I'm starving now feeling dead on my feet
    Going all the way I'm nature's beast
    Do what I want I'll do as I please

    Run, fight, to breathe it's tough
    Now you see me now you don't break the walls I'm coming out

      Not a prisoner I'm a free man and my blood is my own now
      Don't care where the past was I know where I'm going... Out!

    If you kill me it's self defence
    If I kill you then I call it vengeance
    Spit in your eye I will defy
    You'll be afraid when I call out your name

    Run, fight, to breathe it's gonna be tough
    Now you see me now you don't break the walls, I'm coming out

      Not a prisoner I'm a free man and my blood is my own now
      Don't care where the past was I know where I'm going
      Not a number I'm a free man I'll live my life how I want to
      You'd better scratch me from your black book 'cause I'll run rings around you

    (4:19 – Solo: Adrian Smith)
    (4:37 – Solo: Dave Murray)

      Not a prisoner I'm a free man and my blood is my own now
      Don't care where the past was I know where I'm going
      Not a number I'm a free man live my life where I want to
      You'd better scratch me from your black book 'cause I'll run rings around you

      Not a prisoner I'm a free man and my blood is my own now
      Don't care where the past was I know where I'm going


 

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  22, Acacia Avenue [6:34] (Harris, Smith) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    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 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 of this madness?
    Can't you see it only brings you sadness
    When you entertain your men don't you 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 you're strolling down the Avenue
    The way you walk it makes 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

    (3:50 – Solo: Dave Murray)

    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

    (5:31 – Solo: Adrian Smith)


 

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  The Number Of The Beast [4:49] (Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum

Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea,
for the Devil sends the beast with wrath,
because he knows the time is short...

– Revelations 12:12
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.

– Revelations 13:18

    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

    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 this all for real or just some kind of hell?

      Six six six – 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

      Six six six – the Number of the Beast
      Sacrifice is going on tonight

    (2:46 – Solo: Dave Murray)
    (3:15 – Solo: Adrian Smith)

    This can't go on I must inform the law
    Can this still be real or some crazy dream?
    But I feel drawn toward the evil chanting hordes
    Seem to mesmerize me, can't avoid their eyes

      Six six six – the Number of the Beast
      Six six six – 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


 

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  Run To The Hills [3:50] (Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    The white man came across the sea
    He brought us pain and misery
    He killed our tribes he killed our creed
    He 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 the 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

    Soldiers blue in the barren wastes
    Hunting and killing the 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
      Run to the hills, run for your lives

    (2:12 – Solo: Dave Murray)

      Run to the hills, run for your lives
      Run to the hills, run for your lives


 

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  Gangland [3:47] (Smith, Burr) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    Shadows may hide you but also be your grave
    You're running today maybe tomorrow you'll be saved
    You pray for the daylight to save you for a while
    You wonder if your children will face the killer's smile

      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland murders up for sale
      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland where jail birds die

    Face at the window leers into your own
    But it's only your reflection still you tremble in your bones
    How long can you hide, how long till they come?
    A rat in a trap but you've got to survive

    Once you were glad to be free for a while
    The air tasted good and the world was your friend
    Then came the day when the hard time began
    Now your alone but alive – for how long?

      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland murders up for sale
      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland where jail birds die

    (2:45 – Solo: Adrian Smith)

    A knife at your throat another body on the pile
    A contract to keep and it's service with a smile
    Murder for vengeance or murder for gain
    Death on the streets or in a blacked out jail

      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland murders up for sale
      Dead men tell no tales, in Gangland where jail birds die

      Dead men... gangland... murder
      In Gangland you tell no tales!


 

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  Total Eclipse [4:28] (Harris, Murray, Burr) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    Cold as steel the darkness waits its hour will come
    A cry of fear from our children worshipping the sun
    Mother nature's black revenge on those who waste her life
    War babies in the garden of Eden shall turn our ashes to ice

      Sunrise is gone, freezing up the fires
      Sunrise is gone, numbing our desires
      Sunrise is gone, sunrise is gone

    Around the world the people stop with terror-stricken eyes
    A shadow cast upon them all to crush them like a fly
    In the icy rain and whiplashed seas there's nowhere left to run
    The hammer blows of winter fall like a hurricane

      Sunrise is gone, freezing up the fires
      Sunrise is gone, numbing all desires

    Around the world the nations wait for some wise words from their leading light
    You know it's not only madmen who listen to fools
    "Is this the end?" the millions cried clutching their riches as they died
    Those who survive must weather the storm

    (Solo: Dave Murray)
    (Solo: Adrian Smith)

    Gone are the days when man looked down
    They've taken away his sacred crown
    To be so free it took so long
    It's not the journey's end it's just begun


 

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  Hallowed Be Thy Name [7:10] (Harris) Commentary Lyrics Discuss this song in the forum
 

    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 five o'clock they'll take me to the gallows pole
    The sands of time for me are running low...
    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 been some kind 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 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'm not afraid of dying
    Don't I believe that there never is 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 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
    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 here is just a strange illusion

    (4:50 – Solo: Dave Murray)
    (5:08 – Solo: Adrian Smith)

    Yeah! Hallowed be Thy name! Hallowed be Thy name!


 

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