Iron Maiden - The X-Factor (1995)

 

1. Sign Of The Cross
2. Lord Of The Flies
3. Man On The Edge
4. Fortunes Of War
5. Look For The Truth
6. The Aftermath
7. Judgement Of Heaven
8. Blood On The World's Hands
9. The Edge Of Darkness
10. 2 A.M.
11. The Unbeliever

1. Sign Of The Cross

Eleven saintly shrouded men
Silhouettes stand against the sky
One in front with a cross held high
Come to wash my sins away

Standing alone in the wind and rain
Feeling the fear that is growing
Sensing the change in the tide again
Brought by the storm that is brewing
Feel the anxiety hold off the fear
Some of the doubts in the things you believe
Now that your faith will be put to the test
Nothing to do but await what is coming

Why then is god still protecting me
Even when I don't deserve it
Thought I am blessed with an inner strength
Some they would call it a penance
Why am I meant to face this alone
Asking the question time and again
Praying to god won't keep me alive
Inside my head feel the fear start to rise...

They'll be saying their prayers when the moment comes
There'll be penace to pay when it's judgement day
And the guilty'll bleed when that moment comes
They'll be coming to claim, take your soul away

The sign of the cross
The name of the rose, a fire in the sky
The sign of the cross

They'll be coming to bring the eternal flame
They'll be bringing us all immortality
Holding communion so the world be blessed
My creator, my god'll lay my soul to rest

The sign of the cross
The name of the rose, a fire in the sky
The sign of the cross

Lost the love of heaven above
Chose the lust of the earth below
Eleven saintly shrouded men
Came to wash my sins away


2. Lord Of The Flies

I don't care for this world anymore
I just want to live my own fantasy
Faith has brought me to these shores
What was meant to be is now happening

I've found that I like this living in danger
Living on the edge it feels... it makes me feel as one
Who cares now what's right or wrong it's reality
Killing so we survive wherever we may roam
Wherever we may hide we've got to get away

I don't want existence to end
We must prepare ourselves for the elements
I just want to feel like we're strong
We don't need a code of morality

I like all the mixed emotion and anger
It brings out the animal the power you can feel
And feeling so high on this much adrenalin
Excited but scary to believe what we've become

Saints and sinners
Something within us
We are lord of the flies

Saints and sinners
Something willing us
To be lord of the flies


3. Man On The Edge

The freeway is jammed and it's backed up for miles
The car is an oven and baking is wild
Nothing is ever the way it should be
What we deserve we just don't get you see

A briefcase, a lunch and a man on the edge
Each step gets closer to losing his head
Is someone in heaven are they looking down
'Cause nothing is fair just you look around

Falling down

He's sick of waiting of lying like this
There's a hole in the sky for the angels to kiss
Branded a leper because you don't fit
In the land of the free you just live by your wits

Once he built missiles a nation's defence
Now he can't even give birthday presents
Across the city he leaves in his wake
A glimpse of the future a cannibal state

Falling down

The freeway is jammed and it's backed up for miles
The car is an oven and baking is wild
Nothing is ever the way it should be
What we deserve we just don't get you see

A briefcase, a lunch and a man on the edge
Each step gets closer to losing his head
Is someone in heaven are they looking down
'Cause nothing is fair just you look around

Falling down


4. Fortunes Of War

After the war and now that they've sent us homeward
I can't help but feel that I'm on my own
No one can see just what this conflict has done to
The minds of the man who are on their way home

I'm scared for life but it's not my flesh that's wounded
So how can I face the torment alone
The vivid scenes and all the recurring nightmares
I lay there and sweat until it gets light...

People say "Don't worry"
Say that time's a perfect healer
That the nightmares they will come to pass
Can't hear what they're saying
I am living in my own world
And I'm feeling trance like all the time

I hear voices in my head
Could I really be going crazy
In the night the visions seem so real
Do you care if you live or die
When you laugh are you really crying
You're not sure what's real anymore

Fortunes of war
Fortunes of war no pain anymore

Sometimes I wake
I feel that my spirit's broken
I wonder if I've the strenght... to carry on.


5. Look For The Truth

All my dark dreams drift like smoke in the breeze
The fear grips me as I fall towards my sleep
Here comes the nightmare that never ends
Here is the dream that makes monsters of men

In the house of my soul
In rooms of ugliness and cold
Memories locked away
All the doubts and fears I never faced

Now they come again
I am falling down to meet with them
Fears within us all
Mine awake and they stand up tall

Look for the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
Knife of the truth
Blade of hatred slicing through

I pray my sleep will break
Maybe this time I won't wake
Weakness I hide so well
This dagger in my mind will tell

It's my final stand
I make a fist out of each hand
To shadows of the past
Take a breath and I scream attack

Look for the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
Knife of the truth
Blade of hatred slicing through

Here is the truth
Deepest cut of all from you
Knife of the truth
Blade of hatred slicing through


6. The Aftermath

Silently to silence fall
In the fields of futile war
Toys of death are spitting lead
Where boys that were our soldiers bled
War horse and war machine

Curse the name of liberty
Marching on as if they should
Mix in the dirt our brothers' blood

In the mud and rain
What are we fighting for
Is it worth the pain
Is it worth dying for
Who will take the blame
Why did they make a war
Questions that come again
Should we be fighting at all

Once a ploughman hitches his team
Here he sowed ? his little dream
Now bodies arms and legs are strewn
Where mustard gas and barbwire bloom
Each moment's like a year
I've nothing left inside for tears
Comrades dead or dying lie
I'm left alone asking why

In the mud and rain
What are we fighting for
Is it worth the pain
Is it worth dying for
Who will take the blame
Why did they make a war
Questions that come again
Should we be fighting at all

After the war
Left feeling no one has won
After the war
What does a soldier become

War is over and battles are gone
After the war no one has won
I'm just a soldier


7. Judgement Of Heaven

A lonely cry for help preaching out for help to anyone
A silent prayer to god to help you on your way
I've been depressed so long
It's hard to remember when I was happy
I've felt like suicide a dozen times or more
But that's the easy way, that's the selfish way
The hardest part is to get on with your life

You're searching in the dark clutching at straws to find a way
You take the tarot cards and throw them to the wind
You ? question your beliefs your inner thoughts,
Your whole existence
And if there is a good then answer if you will
And tell me of my fate, tell me of my place
Tell me if I'll ever rest in peace

If you could live your life again
Would you change a thing or leave it all the same
If you had the chance again
Would you change the thing at all
When you look back at your past
Can you say that you are proud of what you've done
Are there times when you believe
That the right you thought was wrong

All of my life I have believed
Judgement of heaven is waiting for me

All of my life now I have believed
Judgement of heaven awaits for me...


8. Blood On The World's Hands

Sometimes it makes me wonder
Sometimes it makes me question
Sometimes it makes me saddened
Always it makes me angry but...

When you can see it happening
The madness that's all around you
Nobody seems to worry
The world seems so powerless to act...

It's out of control
Blood on the world's hands
Each day a new toll

Another assassination
The same day a new creation
But what are they coming into
Security of a world that brings...

One day another killing
Somewhere there's someone straying
Another a savage raping
Meanwhile there's someone laughing at us

It's out of control
Blood on the world's hands
Each day it goes on

Brutality and aggression
Tomorrow another lesson
Expecting another air raid
Praying for a geaserfire

They say things are getting better
No need to be complacent
There's chaos across the border
And one day it could be happening to us

It's out of control
Blood on the world's hands
It's our epitaph
It's out of control
Someone should know
Blood on the world's hands


9. The Edge Of Darkness

I've looked into the heart of darkness
Where the blood-red journey ends
When you've faced the heart of darkness
Even your soul begins to bend

For a week I have been waiting
Still I am only in Saigon
The walls move in a little closer
I feel the jungle call me on

Every minute I get weaker
While in the jungle they grow strong
What I wanted was a mission
And for my sins they gave me one

They brought it up just like room service
'Cause everyone gets what they want
And when that mission was all over
I'd never want another one

Oh!

I know, captain,
That you've done this work before
We've got a problem
You can help us all I'm sure
The colonel's gone rogue
And his methods are unsound
You'll take a PBR up river track him down

There's a conflict in every human heart
And the temptation is to take it all to far
In this war things get so confused
But there are some things
Which cannot be excused

He's acting like a God - an insane lunatic
Your mission - terminate with extreme prejudice
Your route is dangerous and your progress may be slow
Here is the file and it's all you need to know

Oh! Oh!

Here I am the knife in my hand
And now I understand why the genius must die

Now I stand alone in the darkness
With his blood upon my hands
Where sat the warrior the poet
Now lie the fragments of a man

I've looked into the heart of darkness
Where the blood-red journey ends
When you've faced the heart of darkness
Even your soul begins to bend


10. 2 A.M.

I get in from work at 2 a.m. and sit down with beer
Turn on late night TV and then wonder why I'm here
It's meaningless and trivial and it washes over me
And once again I wonder is this all there is for me

Here I am again
Look at me again
Here I am Again
On my own
Trying hard to see
What there is for me
Here I am again
On my own

Life seems so pathetic I wish I could leave it all behind
This canvas chair, this bed, these walls that fall in on my mind
Hold on for something better
That just drags you through the dirt
Do you just let go or carry on and try to take the hurt

Here I am again
Look at me again
Here I am Again
On my own
Trying hard to see
What there is for me
Here I am again
On my own


11. The Unbeliever

When you start to take a look within
Do you feel at ease with what you see
Do you think you can have peace of mind
And have self-belief or be satisfied

Do you think you even like yourself
Or really think you could be someone else
Is there something that you'd rather be
Never thought you'd be had the chance to see

All my life I've run away
All my life I tried to hide away

Feel the paranoia creeping in
Like a cancer eating at the skin
Do you feel you've lost your self-esteem
And your self respect, what can you expect

All my life...I've run away
All my life I tried to hide away

All my life...I've run astray
Let my faith...slip away
All my life...I've run astray
Allowed my faith...to drift away

Are you scared to look inside your mind
Are you worried just at what you'll find
Do you really want to face the truth
Does it matter now, what have you got to lose

Try to release the anger from within
Forgive yourself a few immortal sins
Do you really care what people think
Are you strong enough to release the guilt

All my life...I've run away
All my life I tried to hide away

All my life...I've run astray
Let my faith...slip away
All my life...I've run astray
Allowed my faith...to drift away

Iron Maiden - Fear Of The Dark (1992)

 1. Be Quick Or Be Dead
2. From Here To Eternity
3. Afraid To Shoot Strangers
4. Fear Is The Key
5. Childhood's End
6. Wasting Love
7. The Fugitive
8. Chains Of Misery
9. The Apparition
10. Judas Be My Guide
11. Weekend Warrior
12. Fear Of The Dark

1. Be Quick Or Be Dead

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

Be quick !
Or be dead !
Be quick !
Or be dead

See... what's ruling all our lives
See... who 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 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.

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

Be quick!
Or be dead!
Be quick!
Or be dead!


2. From Here To Eternity

She fell in love with his greasy machine
She leaned over wiped his 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 ride from here to eternity"

[Chorus: (2 times)]
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
I've 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

[Chorus 2 times]


3. Afraid To Shoot Strangers

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


4. Fear Is The Key

We live our lives in fever
In choking sweat of fear
In the heat of the night you can feel so much
In the heat of the night I scream "Don't touch"

[Chorus:]
I remember a time when we used and abused
And we fought all our battles in vain
I remember a time we thought that passion was free
In the heat of the night... bodies aflame

We live in fever...

I hear your secret heartbeat
I can hear your silent cries
The kids have lost their freedom
And nobody cares till somebody famous dies...

[Chorus:]

Now we live, in a world of uncertainty
Fear is the key - to what you want to be
You don't get a say the majority gets it's way
You're outnumbered by the bastards till the day you die...


5. Childhood's End

I'd sail across the ocean
I'd walk a hundred miles
If I could make it to the end
Oh just to see a smile

You see it in their faces
The sadness in their tears
The desperation and the anger
Madness and the fear

[Chorus:]
No hope, no life, just pain and fear
No food, no love, just greed is here

Starvation and the hunger
The suffering and the pain
The agonies of all-out war
When will it come again ?

The struggle for the power
A tyrant tries again
Just what the hell is going on ?
When will it ever end ?

[Chorus:]

You see the full moon float
You watch the red sun rise
We take these things for granted
But somewhere someone's dying

Contaminated waters
Pollution and decay
Just waiting for disease to strike
Oh will we learn someday ?

No hope, no life, just pain and fear
No food, no love, no seed, childhoods end.


6. Wasting Love

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 brothers while you can
Dream on sisters I hope you will 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 night

Dream on brothers while you can
Dream on sisters I hope you will 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

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


7. The Fugitive

On a cold October morning
As frost lay on the ground
Waiting to make my move
I made no sound

Waiting for the mist to cover all around
I carefully picked my time then took the wall

I'm sick and tired of running
The hunger and the pain
A stop to look about then off again

Being at the wrong place
And at the wrong time
Suspected of a hit that was my crime

[Chorus:]
I am a fugitive being hunted down like game
I am a fugitive but I've got to clear my name

Always looking 'round me
Forever looking back
I'll always be a target for attack

Every morning onwards
Always on the run
Waiting for a sight of a loaded gun

[Chorus:]

Even if I find them
And get to clear my name
I know that things can never be the same

But if I ever prove
My innocence some day
I've got to get them all to make them pay

[Chorus:]


8. Chains Of Misery

There's a madman in the corner of your eye
He likes to pry-into your sunlight
He wants to burst into the street with you and I
A world of shadows and of rain
He's seen what love is...
He wants to pay you back with guilt...

[Chorus:]
He lies to you he won't let you be
He's got your Chains of misery
He won't be still till he's turned your key
He holds your Chains of misery

There's prophet in the gutter in the street
He say "You're damned !" - and you believe him...
He's got a vision but it shines out through your eyes
A world of hatred and fear...
He's felt what love means...
He wants to pay you back with pain

[Chorus:]

It's only love that holds the key to our hearts... only love...

[Chorus 2 times]


9. The Apparition

Now I'm here can you see me
'Cos I'm out on my own
When the room goes cold tell me you can feel me
..........'cos I'm here

Here I am, can you see me
Passing through, on my way
To a place I'd been to only in my dreams... before

In a world of delusion
Never turn your back on a friend
'Cause you can count your real true friends on one hand
..........through life

There are those that deceive you
There are those That'll let you down
Is there someone out there that would die for you
..........thought not

Live your life with a passion
Everything you do, do well
You only get out of life what you put in
..........so they say

In a world of confusion
People never say that what they mean
If you want a straight answer go look for one
..........right now

In a room full of strangers
Do you stand with your back to the wall
Do you sometimes feel like you're on the outside
..........looking in ?

You can make your own luck
You create your destiny
I believe you have the power if you want to
..........it's true

You can do what you want to
If you try a little bit harder
A little bit of faith goes a long way
..........it does

Are we here for a reason ?
I'd like to know just what you think
It would be nice to know what happened when we die
..........wouldn't it ?

There are some who are wise
There are some who are born naive
I believe that there are some that must have lived before
..........don't you ?

As for me, well I'm thinking
You gotta keep an open mind
But I hope that my life's not an open and shut case.

Extra Sensory Perception
Life After Death, telepathy
Can the soul live on and travel through space and time ?

You know I feel so elated
'Cause I'm about to find it out
And when I know all the answers
Maybe then I'll come back
..........to fill you in

You don't be alarmed now
If I try to contact you
If things go missing or get moved around ...it's me

And don't disbelieve it
No matter what your `friends' might say
We'll meet up again some place some way
..........one day


10. Judas Be My Guide

Lights out - We live in a world of darkness
No doubt - Everything's up for sale
We sleep - All of the world is burning
We pray - To god for better deal
Nothing is sacred - Back then or now
Everything's wasted...
Is that all there is ?
Can I go now ?

[Chorus:]
Judas my guide
Whispers in the night
Judas my guide

Fight wars - Die in a blaze of glory
Come home - Meat in a plastic sack
Fall down - Better pray to your god for mercy
So kneel - and help the blade cut clean
Nothing is sacred - Back then or now
Everyone's wasted...
Is that all there is ?
Is that it now ?

I live in the black
I have no guiding light
I'm whispering in your dreams...

[Chorus 2 times]


11. Weekend Warrior

The rebel of yesterday, tomorrow's fool
Who are you kidding being that cool ?

Trying to break away from running with the pack
But they ain't listening so you've gotta go back

You're a weekend warrior when you're one of the crowd
But it's over, just look at you now...

You're not so brave the way you behave
It makes you sick, gotta get out quick
It's all bravado when you're out with your mates
It's like a different person goes through those gates
And the game begins, the adrenalin's high
Feel the tension maybe someone will die...

[Chorus:]
A weekend warrior lately
A weekend warrior sometimes
A weekend warrior maybe you ain't that way anymore

You've gotta get out gotta get away
But you're in with a clique it's not easy to stray
You've gotta admit you're just living a lie
It didn't take long to workout why

It's hard to say why you got involved
Just waiting to be part, just waiting to belong...

[Chorus:]

Some of the things that you've done you feel so ashamed
After all it's only a game... isn't it ?
And after all the adrenalin's gone
What you gonna do on Monday ?

A weekend warrior lately
A weekend warrior sometimes
A weekend warrior maybe you were never like that at all.


12. Fear Of The Dark

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 folklore
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 a constant fear, thought you heard
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