There goes the siren that warns us 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 wheelblocks, there's no time to waste

Gathering speed 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 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 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

--------------------------------------------------

(Bruce Dickinson / Adrian Smith)

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

Some blackened pride burns inside this shell of blood 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 threaten doom

2 minutes to midnight

To kill the unborn in the womb

The blind men shout, let the creature out, we'll show the unbelievers

The napalm screams of human flames of a prime time Belson feast

As the reason for carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy

We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with out 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 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 fingers 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 threaten doom

2 minutes to midnight

To kill the unborn in the womb

Midnight... all night...

--------------------------------------------------

[Instrumental]

--------------------------------------------------

As a young boy chasing dragons with your wooden sword so mighty

You're St. George or you're David and you always killed the beast

Times change very quickly, and you had to grow up early

A house in smoking ruins and the bodies at your feet

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 honor

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 men

--------------------------------------------------

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 weapon is done

He'll tear you apart as soon as you start

You know you don't have a chance

Fight for the honor

Fight for the splendor

Fight for the pleasure

Fight for the honor

Fight for the splendor

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

The fighting resumes, a silence looms

The Swordsmen move against 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

Fought for the honor

Fought for the splendor

Fought for the pleasure

Fought for the honor

Fought for the splendor

Fought to the Death

--------------------------------------------------

(Bruce Dickinson / Adrian Smith)

Turn the spotlights on the people

Switch 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 is black and burned

Shellshock in the kitchen

Tables overturned

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 a 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

But still we walk into the valley

And others try to kill the inner flame

We're burning brighter than 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

--------------------------------------------------

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

Now I am cold but a ghost lives in my veins

Silent the terror that reigned - marbled in stone

Shell of a man God preserved - a thousand ages

But open the gates of my Hell - I will strike from the 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...

--------------------------------------------------

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 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 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

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 time 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 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 speaks 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 guests, a sad and wiser man