About The Song
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” is the final track on Iron Maiden’s 1982 album The Number of the Beast. The song was written by bassist Steve Harris and has been acclaimed as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. It is also considered one of the band’s signature songs.
“Hallowed Be Thy Name” has remained in almost all of the band’s set-lists since the album’s recording, the only exceptions being the Maiden England World Tour 2012–14, the second leg of the Book of Souls World Tour in 2017, and The Future Past World Tour in 2023. Allmusic describes it as “perhaps the most celebrated of the band’s extended epics; it’s the tale of a prisoner about to be hanged, featuring some of Harris’ most philosophical lyrics.” Several band-members have since stated that it is one of their favourite tracks, with Bruce Dickinson describing it as “fantastic” and that performing it live is like “narrating a movie to the audience.”
It is one of the most covered songs in Iron Maiden’s catalogue, with versions released by artists such as Dream Theater, Machine Head, Cradle of Filth and Iced Earth. Iron Maiden also recorded the song as part of Channel Four’s 2007 television series, Live from Abbey Road, while a version recorded for BBC Radio 1 in 2005 was used as a B-side on “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” single. The song’s title is a line from the Lord’s Prayer.
Video
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
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
The words escape me when I try to speak
Tears 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
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
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 by thy name
Yeah