Run to the Hills

"Run To The Hills" is about the European arrival to the "New World," told from the perspective of both the oppressed Cree and the invading Anglo-Saxon soldiers. The first verse ("White man came across the sea, he brought us pain and misery") is from the point of view of the Natives. The second verse ("Chasing the redskins back to their holes, fighting them at their own game") is from the white man's eyes, and the last verse ("Selling them whiskey and taking their gold, enslaving the young and destroying the old") is an impartial third-person narration.

Released as a single on February 12, 1982 with the B-side "Total Eclipse," this was the first Iron Maiden single that featured Bruce Dickinson's "air-raid siren" vocals. It wasn't just a studio trick; on December 2, 1985, a live version was released as a single, and you can hear the siren go off on that rendition as well.

The cover art for the single shows a Native American with an axe wrestling a devil in Hell. Considering the lyrics, this caused some controversy, as many interpreted this to mean the band was suggesting that the imperialistic whites were devils.