Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Iron Maiden Lyrics

Hear the rime of the ancient mariner
Listen to the story of the old seafarer

See his eye as he stops one of three
Witness the mesmerizing gaze which halts one of three wedding guests

Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests
Transfixes one of the wedding guests with his story

Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the sea
Stay here and listen to the gruesome stories of the ocean

And the music plays on, as the bride passes by
The music continues as the bride walks past

Caught by his spell and the mariner tells his tale
Enchanted by his words, the mariner recounts his tale

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
Forced to sail south to the frigid land of snow and ice

To a place where nobody's been
To a place where no one else has ventured to

Through the snow fog flies on the albatross
Through the snow and fog, an albatross flies by

Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings
Blessed in God's name, hoping for good fortune

And the ship sails on, back to the North
The ship continues its journey, back towards the north

Through the fog and ice and the albatross follows on
The albatross continues to follow the ship through the fog and ice

The mariner kills the bird of good omen
The mariner kills the bird believed to bring good luck

His shipmates cry against what he's done
His fellow sailors protest his decision

But when the fog clears, they justify him
When the fog lifts, the sailors accept his actions

And make themselves a part of the crime
They become complicit in the mariner's wrongdoing

Sailing on and on and north across the sea
Continuing to sail northward across the ocean

Sailing on and on and north 'til all is calm
Continuing to sail northward until the ocean is serene

The albatross begins with its vengeance
The albatross begins its retaliation

A terrible curse a thirst has begun
A severe curse and thirst has been triggered,

His shipmates blame bad luck on the mariner
The sailors attribute their misfortune to the mariner

About his neck, the dead bird is hung
The dead bird is hung around the mariner's neck

And the curse goes on and on at sea
The curse persists at sea

And the curse goes on and on for them and me
The curse endures for them and for the mariner

"Day after day, day after day
Each day, continuously

We stuck nor breath nor motion
We were motionless and breathless

As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
As still as a depiction of a ship on a painting of the ocean

Water, water everywhere and
Water is everywhere and

All the boards did shrink
The wooden planks on the ship contracted

Water, water everywhere nor any drop to drink"
Water is all around but there's nothing to quench thirst

There calls the mariner
The mariner announces

There comes a ship over the line
A ship approaches from the horizon

But how can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tide
But how can she move without wind or tide

See, onward she comes
See, she draws closer

Onward she nears out of the sun
She approaches from the bright sunlight

See, she has no crew
Notice: she has no crew aboard

She has no life, wait but here's two
She's devoid of life, except for two aboard

Death and she life in death
Dead and alive at the same time

They throw their dice for the crew
They roll the dice to determine the fate of the crew

She wins the mariner and he belongs to her now
Death wins the mariner, he is now hers

Then, crew one by one
Then, one by one, the crew

They drop down dead, two hundred men
Succumb to death, all two hundred men

She, she, life in death
She, who is both dead and alive

She lets him live, her chosen one
She lets him live as her chosen one

"One after one by the star dogged moon
One by one, under the starry moonlit sky

Too quick for groan or sigh
Too rapid to complain or moan

Each turned his face with a ghastly pang
Each turned his ghastly face in pain

And cursed me with his eye
And cursed me with their eyes

Four times fifty living men
Two hundred living men

(And I heard nor sigh nor groan)
(And I failed to hear any moans or groans)

With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
Dead weight, dropped lifeless

They dropped down one by one"
They fell, one by one

The curse it lives on in their eyes
The curse endures in the sailors' eyes

The mariner he wished he'd die
The mariner wishes for his own death

Along with the sea creatures
And with the ocean's creatures

But they lived on, so did he
But they all persisted, including him

And by the light of the moon
And in the moon's light

He prays for their beauty not doom
He prays for their survival and beauty

With heart he blesses them
He gives them a heartfelt blessing

God's creatures all of them too
For they are also God's creations

Then the spell starts to break
Then the spell slowly dissipates

The albatross falls from his neck
The albatross falls from his neck

Sinks down like lead into the sea
Drops beneath the waves like a lead weight

Then down in falls comes the rain
Then a heavy downpour begins

Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
Hear the groaning of the dead sailors

See them stir and they start to rise
Watch them begin to stir and rise

Bodies lifted by good spirits
Bodies raised by benevolent spirits

None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes
They remain mute, and lifeless in the eyes

And revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Retribution is yet sought, penance begins anew

Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on
Plunged into a trance as the nightmare persists

Now the curse is finally lifted
At last, the curse is lifted

And the mariner sights his home
The mariner sights his homeland

Spirits go from the long dead bodies
The spirits leave the long-dead bodies

Form their own light and the mariner's left alone
Create their own shining light as the mariner is left alone

And then a boat came sailing towards him
A boat sails towards him

It was a joy he could not believe
Overcome with joy, he can scarcely believe it

The pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
The pilot's son and the hermit are aboard the rescue vessel

Penance of life will fall onto him
He will receive lifelong penance

And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the cursed ship sinks as if it were made of lead

And the hermit shrives the mariner of his sins
And the hermit absolves the mariner of his sins

The mariner's bound to tell of his story
The mariner is compelled to tell his tale

To tell this tale wherever he goes
To recount this story wherever he travels

To teach God's word by his own example
To convey the message of God through his own experience

That we must love all things that God made
To love and cherish everything God created

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the wedding guest is now sadder but more enlightened

And the tale goes on and on and on
And the story continues indefinitely