It was a cool winter's morning
Somewhere shortly past 9:00 AM
The armored car they wanted to heist wasn't coming
So instead they went for the bank

The fateful duo that sat in the get-away car
Heavily sedated with thousands of round
Armor piercing, fully automatic weapons
The bowls of wrath poured out on the ground

Baptized in a firefight
Hot blood running cold as ice
Forty four minutes of target practice
All hell's breaking loose
Outgunned, watching "The Force" come to a firefight with a pocketknife
Getting schooled until they shot Achilles' heel
And brought down the beast!!!

This was an accident waiting to happen
It wasn't if it would happen, it was when
The city's people sabotaged themselves
Calling their firepower an unneeded expense

The two most violent men it seemed couldn't be stopped
Standard police issue guns were just not enough
But SWAT arrived to settled the fight
Between AK-47 and AR-15

Baptized in a firefight
Hot blood running cold as ice
Forty four minutes of target practice
All hell's breaking loose
Outgunned, watching "The Force" come to a firefight with a pocketknife
Getting schooled until they shot Achilles' heel
And brought down the beast!!!

Baptized in a firefight
Hot blood running cold as ice
Forty four minutes of target practice
All hell's breaking loose
Outgunned, watching "The Force" come to a firefight with a pocketknife
Getting schooled until they shot Achilles' heel
And brought down the beast!!!


Lyrics submitted by selcath

44 Minutes Lyrics as written by Dave Mustaine

Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.

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44 Minutes song meanings
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11 Comments

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  • +2
    General Comment

    Great song, one of my favorites so far from Endgame. The lyrics are about the North Hollywood shootout in 1997, where two bank robbers engaged in a firefight against LAPD officers. The robbers used fully automatic rifles that were able of piercing through the officers' body armor, and wore body armor themselves that the officers' handguns couldn't penetrate.

    Eventually, SWAT arrived with heavier firearms that could defeat the bank robbers, thus "shot Achilles' heel and brought down the beast".

    Rusty Diamondson September 07, 2009   Link
  • +1
    General Comment

    Fixed the lyrics to what they are in the booklet, i was doing it from ear initially. This is my favorite song from the album (probably their best in years). It has a song for every fan and pulls from all the albums to create an amazing work of art. Also for the record "shot Achilles' heel and brought down the beast" has greater meaning because reports from the scene say "At least one SWAT officer fired his M16 rifle below the cars and wounded Matasareanu in his unprotected lower legs, and he soon surrendered."

    selcathon September 21, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Fucking awesome song and guitar solos

    Rebellion11on September 08, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Also, I think "Hot guns watching the force" should be "All blood washing the porch".

    Rusty Diamondson September 12, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    This is far and away the best song on Endgame. It has the most epic intro you could even hope for, and... gahhh, it's hard to even explain. It's just that good. I would comment on the lyrics, seeing as this is "SongMEANINGS" not "SongQUALITY", but the meaning has already been put forth several times.

    4t0utl3m0nd3on September 26, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    the force come to a firefight with a pocketknife is my favorite line. this is my favorite song from the endgame album.

    DragonMaster92on January 11, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    LOL. Everyone that's posted a song meaning is wrong. Haha. Dave Mustaine once said it himself during a show just nefor playing this song that it's About John Dillinger.

    Shipidgeon December 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    ok lets not forget dillinger was depression era and therefore incapable of carrying an AK-47 or an AR-15. good try though.

    dhfan93on July 02, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    this song frikkin rules and i think its about a guy who goes and just blows a place to shreds with his trusty AK cuz i onced watched a show called shootout where they re-ennact terrorism attacks in the US and i think this guy might have been on it

    rattlehead777on August 21, 2011   Link
  • -1
    General Comment

    I remember hearing about that bank robbery when I was 13, and the mere thought of a couple of bank robbers literally outgunning the police scared the living shit out of me!

    Droogie83on September 18, 2009   Link

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