"Run to the Hills" is a song by the English heavy metal band

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 ...

. It was released as their sixth single and the first from the band's third

studio album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

, '' The Number of the Beast'' (1982). It is their first single with

Bruce Dickinson Paul Bruce Dickinson (born 7 August 1958) is an English singer who has been the lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1981 to 1993 and 1999–present. He is known for his wide-ranging operatic vocal style and energetic stage ...

as vocalist. Credited solely to the band's bassist, Steve Harris, Dickinson contributed to the song but could not be credited due to a contractual agreement with his former band

Samson Samson (; , '' he, Šīmšōn, label= none'', "man of the sun") was the last of the judges of the ancient Israelites mentioned in the Book of Judges (chapters 13 to 16) and one of the last leaders who "judged" Israel before the institution o ...

. Run to the Hills remains one of the band's most popular songs, with VH1 ranking it No. 27 on their list of the 40 Greatest Metal Songs and No. 14 on their list of the Greatest Hard Rock Songs. A live version of the song, from ''

Live After Death ''Live After Death'' is a live album by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US (it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 200 ...

'', was released in 1985 and the original single was reissued in 2002, with all income donated to former drummer

Clive Burr Clive Ronald Burr (8 March 1957 – 13 March 2013) was an English drummer. He was a member of the heavy metal band Iron Maiden from 1979 to 1982. Career Previously a member of Samson, Burr joined Iron Maiden in 1979. Auditioning and joining ...

's MS Trust Fund. In 1990, as part of '' The First Ten Years'' box set, both the original and the 1985 live single were reissued on CD and 12" vinyl, combined with " The Number of the Beast" and " Running Free (live)" respectively.

Composition

Due to contractual issues with his previous band,

, Dickinson could not be credited for any of his contributions made during the writing of ''The Number of the Beast''. Although bassist Steve Harris alone receives credit for the song, Dickinson states that he made a "moral contribution" to the song, in addition to "Children of the Damned" and "The Prisoner" from the same album. While speaking at the IBM Smarter Business conference in Stockholm on 10 October 2012, Dickinson revealed that parts of the song are based on the "rising sixth" interval within a scale, inspired by a documentary he watched which explored why "

My Way "My Way" is a song popularized in 1969 by Frank Sinatra set to the music of the French song "Comme d'habitude" composed by Jacques Revaux with lyrics by Gilles Thibaut and Claude François and first performed in 1967 by Claude François. Its E ...

" was one of the most popular recorded songs.

Themes

The song documents the

colonization Colonization, or colonisation, constitutes large-scale population movements wherein migrants maintain strong links with their, or their ancestors', former country – by such links, gain advantage over other inhabitants of the territory. When ...

of the

Americas The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World. Along with th ...

, first by

Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...

and then by

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

, from the perspective of a Cree Indian and American cavalryman. The opening verse is from the perspective of the Cree, describing his troubles as the

European Americans European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent Eu ...

"came across the sea", bringing the Cree "pain and misery". The song is written from both perspectives, The second verse is from the perspective of a U.S. cavalry soldier, describing his involvement in the

American Indian Wars The American Indian Wars, also known as the American Frontier Wars, and the Indian Wars, were fought by European governments and colonists in North America, and later by the United States and Canadian governments and American and Canadian settle ...

, "chasing the redskins back to their holes". The third verse is not from the perspective of any single individual, and harshly condemns the effects of American expansionism on Native Americans, resulting in the " mericansraping the women and wasting the men", and "enslaving the young and destroying the old".

Original 1982 release

The song was released as a single on 12 February 1982; more than 5 weeks prior to the album's release on 22 March 1982. The single marked Iron Maiden's debut release with new vocalist

. "Total Eclipse" was selected as the single's B-side over the song "Gangland", which in turn would appear on the initial version of the album. The band later regretted this decision, with Steve Harris commenting, "We chose the wrong track as the B-side. I think if "Total Eclipse" had been on the album instead of "Gangland", it would have been far better." The song was added to '' The Number of the Beast'' album when it was remastered in 1998, and was also included in the original Japanese version. It is the second of three single covers featuring

Derek Riggs Derek Riggs (born 13 February 1958) is a contemporary British artist best known for creating the band Iron Maiden's mascot, " Eddie". Career Born in Portsmouth, England, Riggs is a self-taught artist, both in his traditional painting and in hi ...

' depiction of Satan, which debuted on "

Purgatory Purgatory (, borrowed into English via Anglo-Norman and Old French) is, according to the belief of some Christian denominations (mostly Catholic), an intermediate state after physical death for expiatory purification. The process of purgatory ...

" and later appeared on " The Number of the Beast" covers. According to Riggs, the idea behind the original "Run to the Hills" cover was based around the idea of a "power struggle in hell", in which the band's mascot,

Eddie Eddie or Eddy may refer to: Science and technology *Eddy (fluid dynamics), the swirling of a fluid and the reverse current created when the fluid flows past an obstacle * Eddie (text editor), a text editor originally for BeOS and now ported to Lin ...

, battles Satan with a

tomahawk A tomahawk is a type of single-handed axe used by the many Indigenous peoples and nations of North America. It traditionally resembles a hatchet with a straight shaft. In pre-colonial times the head was made of stone, bone, or antler, and Europ ...

(referencing the song's subject matter). As of 2017 the single has sold more than 200,000 copies in UK and has been certified Silver by BPI, the first to do so.

Other releases

In 1985, a live version of "Run to the Hills", taken from ''

'', was released as the band's thirteenth single, along with live versions of "Phantom of the Opera" and "Losfer Words (Big 'Orra)" as its B-sides. According to Riggs, he was asked to paint a cover illustration for both "Run to the Hills" and "Phantom of the Opera" and so the artwork depicts Eddie as

the phantom ''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The charact ...

in a hilly landscape. Following former drummer

's announcement that he was suffering from

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

, "Run to the Hills" was released again in 2002 to raise money for the newly established Clive Burr MS Trust Fund. Two variations were issued, the original studio version and a live version taken from the ''

Rock in Rio ''Rock in Rio'' is a recurring music festival originating in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It later branched into other locations such as Lisbon, Madrid and Las Vegas. Nine incarnations of the festival have been held in Rio de Janeiro, in 1985, 1991, ...

'' concert, with different B-sides.

Appearances in media

An all-star cover version of the song is found on the 2005 tribute album ''

Numbers from the Beast This is a list of albums recorded in tribute to the British heavy metal music, heavy metal band Iron Maiden. ''The Maiden Years Volume 1 – Tribute to Iron Maiden'' ''Made in Tribute: A Tribute to the Best Band in a Whole Goddamn World! ...

'', featuring

Robin McAuley Robin McAuley (born 20 January 1953) is an Irish singer. He is best known as the vocalist for the rock band McAuley Schenker Group from 1986 to 1993, which saw the band release three studio albums: '' Perfect Timing'', '' Save Yourself'', '' M.S ...

on vocals,

Michael Schenker Michael Schenker (born 10 January 1955) is a German guitarist. He played in the rock band UFO and leads the Michael Schenker Group. He was an early member of the hard rock band Scorpions, a band co-founded by his elder brother Rudolf Schenker. ...

and Pete Fletcher on guitars, Tony Franklin on bass and Brian Tichy (

Derek Sherinian Derek Sherinian (born August 25, 1966) is an American keyboardist who has toured and recorded for Alice Cooper, Billy Idol, and Joe Bonamassa, among others. He was also a member of Dream Theater from 1994 to 1999, is the founder of Planet X and ...

, B'z) on drums. The all-female tribute band

The Iron Maidens The Iron Maidens are an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, formed in 2001 as an all-female tribute act to English heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The band currently consists of drummer Linda McDonald, bassist Wanda Ortiz, lead vocalist ...

recorded the song on their 2005 debut album, ''

World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden ''The Iron Maidens: World's Only Female Tribute to Iron Maiden'' is the debut album by American all-female tribute band The Iron Maidens. The album features selected tracks originally performed by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. Michael Ke ...

''. Former Babes in Toyland singer and guitarist

Kat Bjelland Katherine Lynne Bjelland (born December 9, 1963) is an American musician. She rose to prominence as the lead singer, guitarist, and songwriter of the alternative rock band Babes in Toyland, which she formed in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1987. ...

Katastrophy Wife Katastrophy Wife was an American rock band formed by Kat Bjelland and her former husband Glen Mattson in 1998. Bjelland also fronted the punk rock band Babes in Toyland between 1987 and 2001. The band currently consists of Bjelland on lead vocals ...

covered the song in their ''Heart On'' EP in 2007. The song was covered in 2008 by

Sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

on the tribute CD '' Maiden Heaven: A Tribute to Iron Maiden'' released by ''

Kerrang! ''Kerrang!'' is a British weekly magazine devoted to rock, punk and heavy metal music, currently published by Wasted Talent (the same company that owns electronic music publication ''Mixmag''). It was first published on 6 June 1981 as a one- ...

'' magazine. The Swedish lounge metal band

Hellsongs Hellsongs is a three piece acoustic band from Sweden who produce covers of famous hard rock and heavy metal songs in a very different style that they call 'lounge metal'. That means old metal classics performed with clear female vocals, soft guit ...

included a cover version on their 2008 album ''Hymns in the Key of 666''. In 2009, the eventual '' Swedish Idol'' 2009 series winner

Erik Grönwall Per Erik Magnus Grönwall (born 3 December 1987) is a Swedish hard rock and heavy metal singer. In 2009, he won the Swedish ''Idol'' reality television. During several of the shows, he received standing ovations from the jury for his performanc ...

sang it during the live shows and released it as a single in the same year, which peaked at No. 23 in the

Swedish Singles Chart Sverigetopplistan (, lit. "the Sweden top list") is the Swedish national record chart, formerly known as Topplistan (1975–1997) and Hitlistan (1998–2007) and known by its current name since October 2007, based on sales data from the Swedish R ...

Progressive metal Progressive metal (sometimes shortened to prog metal) is a broad :Fusion music genres, fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven s ...

band

Dream Theater Dream Theater is an American progressive metal band formed in 1985 under the name Majesty by John Petrucci, John Myung and Mike Portnoy while they attended Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. They subsequently dropped out of the ...

covered the song live, along with the entire '' The Number of the Beast'' album, and released it as an "official bootleg" in 2006. The song is also featured in the soundtracks of several video games, including ''

SSX on Tour ''SSX on Tour'' is a snowboarding and skiing game, the fourth title in the '' SSX'' series of video games for the GameCube, PlayStation 2, Xbox and PlayStation Portable. It was released in North America on October 11, 2005 and in the PAL region o ...

'' (2005) as the title's main theme, and '' Grand Theft Auto: The Lost and Damned'' (2009). In addition, a cover version is featured in ''

Rock Band A rock band or pop band is a small musical ensemble that performs rock music, pop music, or a related genre. A four-piece band is the most common configuration in rock and pop music. In the early years, the configuration was typically two guita ...

'' (2007), in which it received an "Impossible" difficulty rating, while the original version was made available via download in June 2009.

Video

The official video features fight scenes from the 1923 silent movie '' The Uncovered Wagon'', a parody on the movie ''

The Covered Wagon ''The Covered Wagon'' is a 1923 American silent film, silent Western (genre), Western film released by Paramount Pictures. The film was directed by James Cruze based on a 1922 novel of the same name by Emerson Hough about a group of pioneers tr ...

'', also from 1923.

Track listing

;7" single ;1985 7" Live single ;1985 12" Live single ;2002 7" Red Vinyl single ;2002 Enhanced CD Part. I ;2002 Enhanced CD Part. II ;2002 Enhanced CD European Edition

Personnel

1982 studio single

Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl cover. *

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Dave Murray –

lead guitar Lead guitar (also known as solo guitar) is a musical part for a guitar in which the guitarist plays melody lines, instrumental fill passages, guitar solos, and occasionally, some riffs and chords within a song structure. The lead is the featur ...

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 ...

–

rhythm guitar In music performances, rhythm guitar is a technique and role that performs a combination of two functions: to provide all or part of the rhythmic pulse in conjunction with other instruments from the rhythm section (e.g., drum kit, bass guitar ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are use ...

* Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals *

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

;Production *

Martin Birch Martin Birch (27 December 19489 August 2020) was a British music producer and sound engineer. He became renowned for engineering and producing albums recorded predominantly by British rock bands, including Deep Purple, Rainbow, Fleetwood Mac, W ...

– producer,

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who invent, design, analyze, build and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while considering the l ...

– cover illustration *

Ross Halfin Ross William Halfin (born 11 August 1957) is a British rock and roll photographer. Since the late 1970s he has worked for some of the biggest acts in rock and heavy metal, including Led Zeppelin, AC/DC, Black Sabbath, The Who, Kiss, Metallica, ...

–

photography Photography is the art, application, and practice of creating durable images by recording light, either electronically by means of an image sensor, or chemically by means of a light-sensitive material such as photographic film. It is employed ...

1985 live single

Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl, and 12-inch vinyl covers. ;Iron Maiden * Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals * Steve Harris – bass,

* Dave Murray – lead guitar * Adrian Smith – rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

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 ;Production *Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing *Derek Riggs – cover illustration

2002 studio / live single

* Bruce Dickinson – lead vocals * Dave Murray – lead guitar * Adrian Smith – rhythm guitar, backing vocals *

Janick Gers Janick Robert Gers (; born 27 January 1957) is an English musician who is best known as one of the three guitarists in heavy metal band Iron Maiden. He initially joined to replace Adrian Smith, but remained in the band after Smith rejoined. G ...

– third guitar * Steve Harris – bass, backing vocals * Nicko McBrain – drums

Charts

Run to the Hills

Run to the Hills (Live)

Run to the Hills/ The Number of the Beast

Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)

Run to the Hills

Certifications

References

{{Authority control 1982 singles 1982 songs 1985 singles 2002 singles Anti-imperialism EMI Records singles Iron Maiden songs Protest songs Songs about Native Americans Songs written by Steve Harris (musician)

Composition

Themes

Original 1982 release

Other releases

Appearances in media

Video

Track listing

Personnel

1982 studio single

1985 live single

2002 studio / live single

Charts

Run to the Hills

Run to the Hills (Live)

Run to the Hills/ The Number of the Beast

Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)

Run to the Hills

Certifications

See also

References