Iron Maiden-12.Hallowed Be Thy Name(Hamilton,Canada 1998)

Iron Maiden - Copps Coliseum, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, June 28, 1998, during the '' Virtual XI World Tour'' 1998.

Hallowed Be Thy Name (Harris)

Blaze Bayley:Vocals
Steve Harris:Bass
Janick Gers:Guitar
Dave Murray:Guitar
Nicko McBrain:Drums

[Lyrics]

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

Yeah! Hallowed be Thy name! Hallowed be Thy name!
..................................
''Hallowed Be Thy Name'' is a song from Iron Maiden's album ''The Number Of The Beast'', released in 1982.

''That's one of my favourite songs and still one we play live. We're trying to create a mood with the build-up of the song. The classical guitar-like opening was Dave building the mood, with bells in the background. It's about someone with only a few hours left to live. In concert the end part of this one takes off. Dave takes the first solo and then Adrian.''(Steve Harris)

This is what many fans consider the best Iron Maiden song ever, and perhaps the best song of all time. 'Hallowed Be Thy Name' describes the thoughts and emotions of a condemned man on his way to the gallows. There is a striking similarity with the lyrics of 'Rainbow's Gold', a song by a band called Beckett that was later covered by Maiden on the B-side of the 2 Minutes To Midnight single.

And though the end is near I'm not sorry
Catch my soul, it's willing to fly away
Hallowed Be Thy Name

And your bird she's singing
Catch your soul, he's willing to fly away
Rainbow's Gold

The unfolding story of the song is seen through the eyes of a man who, facing imminent death, experiences first anguish, then terror, and finally hope that he will return hence the final line taken from the Lord's Prayer. The sentence referring to life being "just a strange illusion" should probably not be taken literally, and it seems to be indicating that the way most people consider their own lives is an illusion and not life itself. They have this illusion that the life they're living is the one that was meant for them, and this prevents them from looking any further. They often never fulfill their original dreams because they have been deceived by all those fake dreams that have been instilled into them by society.

There is actually no way to describe this song other than absolutely inspired and brilliant. The long instrumental section that dominates the last half of the song is rivalled only by 'Phantom Of The Opera', and the lyrical depth and emotion stand alone, unapproached by anything else that can be heard. This is probably the best song ever written!

'The Number of the Beast' is the third studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The album was released on March 29, 1982 through EMI and on its sister label Capitol on the Harvest imprint in the US originally before it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia in the US. This was the debut of vocalist Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden. It has been cited as one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time, and is widely acknowledged as one of the best and most iconic albums of the genre.

'The Number of the Beast' also cemented Iron Maiden as one of "the biggest metal bands on the planet".