Run To The Hills – English Lyrics

• By: Iron Maiden
• Album: The Number Of The Beast

Lyrics & Translation

Learning a language through music is an exciting journey, and Iron Maiden's "Run to the Hills" offers a powerful entry point. The song's clear, narrative-driven lyrics and shifting perspectives provide a fantastic opportunity to engage with storytelling in English. Its historical theme also introduces a rich vocabulary related to conflict and social commentary, all delivered with the passionate and articulate vocals of Bruce Dickinson.

[English]

White man came across the sea

He brought us pain and misery

He killed our tribes, he killed our creed

He took our game for his own need

We fought him hard, we fought him well

Out on the plains, we gave him hell

But many came, too much for Cree

Oh, will we ever be set free?

...

Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes

Galloping hard on the plains

Chasing the redskins back to their holes

Fighting them at their own game

Murder for freedom, a stab in the back

Women and children and cowards attack

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Soldier blue in the barren wastes

Hunting and killing's a game

Raping the women and wasting the men

The only good Indians are tame

Selling them whiskey and taking their gold

Enslaving the young and destroying the old

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

...

Yeah

...

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

Run to the hills

Run for your lives

...

Key Grammar Structures

• White man came across the sea

  ➔ Past Simple

  ➔ The verb "came" is in the Past Simple tense, showing a completed action in the past.

• He brought us pain and misery

  ➔ Past Simple

  ➔ The verb "brought" is the Past Simple form of "bring", used for a past action.

• Out on the plains, we gave him hell

  ➔ Prepositional phrase of location

  ➔ The phrase "Out on the plains" is a prepositional phrase that tells us where the action takes place.

• But many came, too much for Cree

  ➔ Comparative structure with "too ... for"

  ➔ The phrase "too much for" expresses a comparison, meaning the amount exceeds what Cree can handle.

• Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes

  ➔ Gerund / present participle phrase as subject

  ➔ The gerund "Riding" functions as the subject of the clause, describing an ongoing action.

• Run to the hills

  ➔ Imperative mood

  ➔ The verb "Run" is in the imperative, giving a direct command or advice.

• Run for your lives

  ➔ Imperative with possessive object

  ➔ The imperative "Run" is followed by the possessive pronoun "your", showing who should take action.

• Hunting and killing's a game

  ➔ Contraction of verb + "is" (present simple)

  ➔ The form "killing's" is a contraction of "killing is", used in the present simple to state a fact.

• The only good Indians are tame

  ➔ Linking verb + adjective complement

  ➔ The linking verb "are" connects the subject "Indians" with the adjective "tame", describing their state.

• We fought him hard, we fought him well

  ➔ Adverb of manner placed after the verb

  ➔ The adverbs "hard" and "well" follow the verb "fought", showing how the action was performed.