The former members of the band now resides in bands like Trenches, The Typewriter Romantics, Haveri, The Indecision Alarm, The New Mess, Straitjacket Generation and Dia Psalma
Band Members Original line-up: Robert Samsonowitz - Drums, Micke Claesson (later changed last name to Fritz) - Vocals and guitar, Geir Pedersen - Vocals and bass, Mathias Andersson - Guitar and vocals. Mathias later left the band and Pontus Bednarz replaced him.
Run To The Hills
Adhesive Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
White man came across the sea
He brought us pain and misery
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed
He took our game for his own need
We fought him hard we fought him well
But many came too much for cree
Oh will we ever be set free?
Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes
Galloping hard on the plains
Chasing the redskins back to their holes
Fighting them at their own game
Murder for freedom a stab in the back
Women and children and cowards attack
Run to the hills run for your lives
Run to the hills run for your lives
Soldier blue on the barren wastes
Hunting and killing their game
Raping the women and wasting the men
The only good indians are tame
Selling them whiskey and taking their gold
Enslaving the young and destroying the old
Run to the hills run for your lives
The song "Run to the Hills" by Iron Maiden is a commentary on the historical treatment of Native Americans by white settlers in North America. The lyrics begin by describing the arrival of white men by sea and the violence and oppression that ensued. The singer sings of the ways in which white settlers took everything from Native Americans, including their land, their way of life, and their independence. The chorus, "Run to the hills run for your lives," suggests that there is no escape from the relentless violence and oppression that Native Americans faced, and that their only option was to flee for survival.
The second verse goes into further detail about the ways in which Native Americans were mistreated by white settlers. The lyrics describe soldiers hunting and killing Native American people for sport, and raping women and killing men. The singer sings that the only “good Indians” are those who are tamed by the settlers, and that Native Americans were subjected to enslavement and forced to abandon their traditions and ways of life. The overall message of the song is a condemnation of the violent and oppressive behavior of white settlers in their treatment of Native Americans.
Line by Line Meaning
White man came across the sea
The arrival of white people through the sea is linked to the pain and misery that they brought with them
He brought us pain and misery
The existence of white people caused agony and unhappiness in the singer's tribe
He killed our tribes, he killed our creed
The white people's elimination of the singer's tribe and their beliefs resulted in their physical and cultural extinction
He took our game for his own need
The white people plundered the artist's tribe's resources for their own necessities and profits
We fought him hard we fought him well
The artist's tribe engaged in battle against the white people with courage and aggression
Out on the plains we gave him hell
The singer's tribe was ferocious in their resistance on the open fields
But many came too much for cree
However, the arrival of an overwhelming number of white people was too much for the singer's tribe to handle
Oh will we ever be set free?
The artist is skeptical if they will ever achieve liberation from the oppression of the white people
Riding through dust clouds and barren wastes
White people, symbolized by the Dust Clouds, traveled across desolate lands in search of new territory
Galloping hard on the plains
The white people rode fast and strong in their conquest
Chasing the redskins back to their holes
White people pursued Native Americans back to their habitats in order to control them more easily
Fighting them at their own game
White people fought in the way their enemies did, as they mimicked the combat techniques used by the Native Americans
Murder for freedom a stab in the back
Killing people of other races, then describing it as ‘fighting for freedom’, i.e. a reason which cannot justify the killing, is frequently perceived as inappropriate and treacherous
Women and children and cowards attack
Neighborhood structures are defenseless against the attack of the white people, as they attack shamelessly presented by the elderly and even little kids
Run to the hills run for your lives
The singer urges everyone to escape and seek shelter in a safer location as the situation worsens
Soldier blue on the barren wastes
Walsh's lyrics contrast different tones and feelings; the colour blue commonly associated with peace is juxtaposed with Soldier's, who represents war
Hunting and killing their game
White people, like hunters pursuing prey, chased, killed, and dominated the Native Americans as if they were a game
Raping the women and wasting the men
White people were responsible for harming women in violent ways whilst also terminating the lives of men
The only good indians are tame
White people refused to recognize the value of indigenous people who refused to submit to their control and only viewed 'tame' obedient indigenous people as good
Selling them whiskey and taking their gold
White people sought to exploit the native population by selling them cheap and addictive beverages in exchange for their valuables and natural resources
Enslaving the young and destroying the old
White people impounded young indigenous people to work as laborers and destroyed the lives of the elderly
Contributed by Aubrey C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.