"Hallowed Be Thy Name" is the final track on

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. While fluid in the early years of the band, the lineup for most of the band's history has consisted of Harri ...

'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 and is also considered one of the band's signature songs.

Synopsis

"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, and the second leg of

the Book of Souls World Tour The Book of Souls World Tour was a concert tour by Iron Maiden, held in support of their sixteenth studio album, ''The Book of Souls''. During the first leg of the tour the band played shows in 36 countries across six continents, which included ...

in 2017.

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

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 A machine head (also referred to as a tuning machine, tuner, or gear head) is a geared apparatus for tuning stringed musical instruments by adjusting string tension. Machine heads are used on mandolins, guitars, double basses and others, and ar ...

, Cradle of Filth and

Iced Earth Iced Earth is an American heavy metal band formed in Tampa, Florida and currently based in Columbus, Indiana. They were formed in 1984 under the name the Rose, then Purgatory, by guitarist and main songwriter Jon Schaffer and original drummer ...

. Iron Maiden also recorded the song as part of

Channel Four Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service in ...

's 2007 television series, '' Live from Abbey Road'', while a version recorded for

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...

in 2005 was used as a B-side on "

The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg is a song by Iron Maiden, released as the lead single from their fourteenth studio album, '' A Matter of Life and Death''. The song was released as a single on 14 August 2006, preceding the release of ''A Matte ...

" single. The song's title is a line from the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

Songwriting lawsuit

A section of the lyrics are lifted from Beckett's 1973 song "Life's Shadow". Iron Maiden manager Rod Smallwood was the agent for Beckett and a teenage Steve Harris saw the band play this song live. Harris and Dave Murray settled with one of the credited songwriters, Robert Barton. The other songwriter, Brian Ingham, has sued Iron Maiden for his share of the profits from the song. Ingham was unaware of the matter until 2011 and Barton claimed to be the sole songwriter during the original settlement. On 12 March 2018, it was reported that the band had settled the case out of court. The group's lawyers had argued that Harris initially used the lyrics as a placeholder and did not have time to change them before the album's release. A spokesperson for the band states that they settled out of court for pragmatic reasons and to avoid escalating legal fees.

Personnel

* Bruce Dickinson –

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or withou ...

* Dave Murray –

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

s *

Adrian Smith Adrian Frederick "H" Smith (born 27 February 1957) is an English guitarist best known as a member of heavy metal band Iron Maiden, for whom he also writes songs and performs backing vocals both live and in the studio. Smith grew up in London ...

– guitars * Steve Harris – bass * Clive Burr – drums

Live single

A live version of the song was released as a single on 4 October 1993 to promote ''

A Real Dead One ''A Real Dead One'' is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released on 25 October 1993. It was recorded at various concerts across Europe, during the Fear of the Dark Tour in 1992 and the Real Live Tour in 1993. It features ...

'', a live album featuring recordings from various concerts throughout the

Fear of the Dark Fear of the dark is a common fear or phobia among children and, to a varying degree, adults. A fear of the dark does not always concern darkness itself; it can also be a fear of possible or imagined dangers concealed by darkness. Some degree ...

and Real Live tours. The song was recorded at the Olympic Arena in Moscow on 4 June 1993 during the Real Live Tour. The single's

B-sides The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

The Trooper "The Trooper" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was released as the second single on 20 June 1983 from the band's fourth studio album, ''Piece of Mind'' (1983). It was one of only a few songs to get much radio airplay i ...

", "

Wasted Years "Wasted Years" is a song by the English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It is the band's fourteenth single released and the first from their sixth studio album, '' Somewhere in Time'' (1986). It is the only song on the album that features no synthe ...

" and "Wrathchild" were recorded during the same tours, but only "The Trooper" is featured on the album. It is the band's last single to feature vocalist Bruce Dickinson until 2000's "

The Wicker Man ''The Wicker Man'' is a 1973 British folk horror film directed by Robin Hardy and starring Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland, Diane Cilento, Ingrid Pitt, and Christopher Lee. The screenplay by Anthony Shaffer, inspired by David Pinner's 1967 ...

Track listing

UK 7" red vinyl

UK 12" picture disc

CD maxi single

Personnel

* Bruce Dickinson – vocals * Dave Murray – guitars * Janick Gers – guitars * Steve Harris – bass *

Nicko McBrain Michael Henry "Nicko" McBrain (born 5 June 1952) is an English musician, best known as the drummer of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. Having played in small pub bands since 1966 from the age of 14, McBrain paid his bills after grad ...

– drums

Chart performance

References

{{authority control 1982 singles Iron Maiden songs Songs written by Steve Harris (musician) 1982 songs EMI Records singles Songs about death