Run To The Hills

Actually I think it is the Americans that the song refers too.

Joey is right...It is about the Indian Massacres.

Reasons why I disagree with Drav:

1. The English did not fight the Indians on the plains, they never made it that far west.
2. "Soldier BLUE on the barren wastes". Everyone knows that the British were redcoats and the Americans were blue.

I really don't think they are sympathetic or not sympathetic. I think they are just narrating it from each sides point of view. They seem to remain neutral to me.

It is hard to determine exactly which time period Maiden is referring to, mainly because of a small error in the lyrics. The Cree, I believe, lived in the Dakotas or somewhere else on the Great Plains, so to them the Europeans would not have come accross the sea. If Maiden had changed the lyrics to leave out any reference to the sea, it would make more sense. I think the song is just about the conflict between the Native Americans and Europeans in general and spans different regions, time periods, and povs.

First and foremost: This song rocks.

Secondly: The lyrics are about 50% bullshit. I'm so sick of people lumping every American Indian tribe together and labelling them "The Noble Red Man" who was happy and free and clean and industrious till we fucked them over, like a real life version of Disney's Pocahontas or something..

Fact is, we did fuck the Indians. Some of them were decent, industrious tribes. A lot of them, including the Apaches, Mescaleros, Blackfeet, etc. were monstrously brutal savages who practiced torture and rape on their prisoners, valued their men by how many scalps he'd taken, and had been massacring the women and children of any OTHER INDIAN tribe nearby for many years before we got there.

Just like different European cultures, there's different Indian cultures. Some of them were Klingons and literally spent their days raiding and massacring anybody who came close.

Most of the tribes didn't deserve the two-timing crap they got from us. But at least a few of the ones who got ground out of existence by the US Army were the ones who built their entire tribe on war and murder and had been killing their neighbors for a long time already.

Go read the reports of somebody who actually saw what things were like instead of some shithead bleeding-heart "I'm embarassed to be white" cultural anthropologist who wouldn't know a real Indian if he fell over one.

I came here because I love this song and wanted to look deeper into its meaning. I am Indian. For me, I feel like the song is a history lesson, although slightly inaccurate only for the sake of artistry - sometimes meanings and facts can be obscured when we struggle to create a rhyme, lol. Some of my friends are horrified that I enjoy this song - can't help it. I know great metal when I hear it, and appreciate it, and I honestly don't think Iron Maiden was trying to sway listeners to one side or the other. They were simply telling what happened - from both perspectives, and not glossing over the horror and the atrocities. The lyrics drive home the feelings of desperation on both sides. I'd like to ask people to step back for a moment and not take things so personal...to analyze with human ears and eyes, and accept truth in history, even when it makes us uncomfortable. Musicians are artists, and great artists don't care about your feelings - their work is a reflection of raw, human emotion and experience. If it can strike a nerve or make you see yourself in it, then job well done.

ok so this song is about the american army and the native americans and the wars they had in the 1800's. it appears to portray the whites as bastards and the netives as victims which is more or less true in most peoples oppinions. anyway a brilliant song, one of maidens best.

Your right on that one joey.

The song potrays what was going on from both armies own point of view extremely clever and effective

this song is about the french indian war from 1754 – 1763. The English did not fight the Indians on the plains, they never made it that far west but the french did. "Soldier BLUE on the barren wastes". Everyone knows that the British were redcoats and the Americans were blue. But seeing as America was not a country at the time it must have been the french because there uniforms were blue (militaryheritage.com/bearn.htm). and thank you mitch1 for the comment there...you really helped me piece this one together lol

BeastWithin is right, Joey is kinda wrong. It's not one person's point of view, but both sides as Beast pointed. Anyway, a phenomenal song and I love it.

Firstly, America did not exist in those days, it was the Europeans, namely England and France who came to North America and ran down the Natives.

I find it difficult to decide whether Maiden is sympathetic towards the Natives, as expressed in the beginning of the song, or if they are proud of what has happened throughout the rest of the song.