Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name - Meaning of the song
"Hallowed be thy name"is about a man who is on death row and about to be executed, it is from the perspective of that man.
The live version of this song off of A Real Dead One was released as a single in 1993 after Bruce Dickinson announced he was leaving the band. The single's cover shows Eddie as Satan stabbing Bruce to death with a triton. Killing the departing vocalist in album art was an idea that was also used on the cover of Maiden Japan in 1981 (with Eddie holding Paul Di'Anno's severed head), as well as in the video of Bruce's farewell concert with the band, "Raising Hell," where horror illusionist Simon Drake appears to impale Bruce to death in an iron maiden torture device.
Several of this song's lines were lifted from British prog band Beckett's 1974 track "Life's Shadow" by Steve Harris. The Iron Maiden bassist saw Beckett perform in 1973 and their debut LP was one of his favorite albums when it was first released. He initially used the lyrics as a placeholder and did not have time to change them before Number of the Beast was released. After Beckett's retired band manager Barry McKay filed a lawsuit, £100,000 (approximately $138,000) was paid by Iron Maiden out of court to "Life's Shadow" songwriters Brian Quinn and Robert Barton.
Hallowed Be Thy Name - 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 5 o'clock they take me to the Gallows Pole The sands of time for me are running low Running low, yeah 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 that there's some sort 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 fall 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 Somebody cries from a cell "God be with you" If there's a God why has He let me go? As I walk 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 believe my soul lives on Don't worry now that I have gone I've gone beyond to seek 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, yeah, yeah... Hallowed be Thy name Yeah, yeah, yeah... Hallowed be Thy name Yeah