Iron Maiden - AT&T Center, San Antonio, TX, US, June 12, 2010, during the Final Frontier World Tour 2010.
A special thanks goes to EL REY, the owner of this DVD.

The Number Of The Beast (Harris)

[Lyrics]

'' Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea,
for the Devil sends the beast with wrath,
because he knows the time is short...
-- Revelations 12:12
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six.''
Revelations 13:18

I left alone, my mind was blank
I needed time to think, to get the memories from my mind
What did I see? Can I believe
That what I saw that night was real and not just fantasy

Just what I saw in my old dreams
Were they reflections of my warped mind staring back at me
'Cause in my dreams it's always there
The evil face that twists my mind and brings me to despair

Night was black, was no use holding back
'Cause I just had to see was someone watching me
In the mist dark figures move and twist
Was this all for real or just some kind of hell?

Six six six -- the Number of the Beast
Hell and fire was spawned to be released

Torches blazed and sacred chants were praised
As they start to cry hands held to the sky
In the night the fires burning bright
The ritual has begun Satan's work is done

Six six six -- the Number of the Beast
Sacrifice is going on tonight

This can't go on I must inform the law
Can this still be real or some crazy dream?
But I feel drawn toward the evil chanting hordes
Seem to mesmerize me, can't avoid their eyes

Six six six -- the Number of the Beast
Six six six -- the one for you and me

I'm coming back, I will return
And I'll possess your body and I'll make you burn
I have the fire, I have the force
I have the power to make my evil take its course
.......................................
Bruce Dickinson:Vocals
Steve Harris:Bass
Janick Gers:Guitar
Dave Murray:Guitar
Adrian Smith:Guitar
Nicko McBrain:Drums
......................................
''The Number Of The Beast '' is a song from Iron Maiden's album ''The Number Of The Beast''.The album was released in 1982.

''Basically this song is about a dream. It's not about devil worship. '' (Steve Harris)

This song was loosely inspired by the 1978 movie Omen II, and a Steve Harris nightmare. It begins ominously with quoted text from the Bible:

Woe to you, oh Earth and Sea,
for the Devil sends the beast with wrath,
because he knows the time is short...
Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast
for it is a human number, its number is Six hundred and sixty six.
(Revelations 13:18)

The reference of this quote is however not entirely correct, as only the last sentence corresponds to Revelations 13:18, the first one being found in Revelations 12:12. There are several English translations of the Bible, but Steve Harris seems to have used the quotes from the Revised Standard Version:

Rejoice then, O heaven and you that dwell therein! But woe to you, O earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!(Revelations 12:12)

This calls for wisdom: let him who has understanding reckon he number of the beast, for it is a human number, its number is six hundred and sixty-six.(Revelations 13:18)

In the Number Of The Beast video, Steve mentions that the song was somehow also inspired by Robert Burns's poem Tam O' Shanter.

Here is Mick Wall's account of the controversy that occurred at the time:

''In America, where the title of the album had caused a storm of protest from the emerging so-called "moral majority", a right-wing American political pressure group ludicrously accused Maiden of being Devil worshippers and of "trying to pervert our kids". As Steve says, "It was mad. They completely got the wrong end of the stick. They obviously hadn't read the lyrics. They just wanted to believe all that rubbish about us being Satanists." Nevertheless, the resulting publicity kept the band's name in the news in every town that they visited that year, as kids everywhere were desperate to check out for themselves this band that was putting the fear of God into their parents.''

'The Number of the Beast' is the third studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. The album was released on March 29, 1982 through EMI and on its sister label Capitol on the Harvest imprint in the US originally before it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia in the US. This was the debut of vocalist Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden. It has been cited as one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time, and is widely acknowledged as one of the best and most iconic albums of the genre.

'The Number of the Beast' also cemented Iron Maiden as one of "the biggest metal bands on the planet".

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