Iron Maiden – 2 Minutes To Midnight

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Kill for gain or shoot to maim
But we don't need a reason
The Golden Goose is on the loose
And never out of season
Some blackened pride still burns inside
This shell of bloody treason
Here's my gun for a barrel of fun
For the love of living death.

[Chorus]
The killer's breed or the demon's seed,
The glamor, the fortune, the pain,
Go to war again, blood is freedom's stain,
But don't you pray for my soul anymore.
Two minutes to midnight
The hands that threaten doom.
Two minutes to midnight
To kill the unborn in the womb.

The blind men shout let the creatures out
We'll show the unbelievers
The napalm screams of human flames
Of a prime time Belsen feast, yeah!
As the reasons for the carnage cut their meat and lick the gravy,
We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies.

[Chorus]

The body bags and little rags of children torn in two
And the jellied brains of those who remain to put the finger right on you.
As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun.

[Chorus]

Midnight, all night

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Lyrics submitted by numb

Track duration: 06:02

"2 Minutes to Midnight" as written by Bruce Dickinson, Adrian Frederick Smith

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

Lyrics powered by LyricFind


2 Minutes To Midnight song meanings
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60 Comments

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  • +1
    Song Meaning:I think it's more about war in general and politics of war.

    The napalm is referencing vietnam

    Belsen feast references WW2 (Belsen was a concentration camp)

    And I don't think anything is talking about Saddam and WMD, considering this song came out in late 80's, Saddam was still our friend and any WMD he had, he got from us and we didn't care :)
    Flag chefgroovyon July 25, 2011   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I didn't read all the comments but from what I read, a lot of people here are way off. The song is referencing the doomsday clock (if you don't know what that is, use Wikipedia). When the clock reaches midnight, the world ends due to a nuclear war. Therefore 2 minutes to midnight is referring to the time (I think it was in the 60s) when the world was on the brink of a nuclear war. The song is talking about how the world is going to end.
    Flag jam1eateron November 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I love this song, Iron Maiden rocks
    Flag ledzepfloyd1101on May 26, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:I always thought it was about the vietnam war, i guess i was half right, with it actually being about the cold war.

    I think i was influenced by the napalm line that it was vietnam.
    Flag willhaytchon February 12, 2010   Link
  • 0
    Song Meaning:2 Minutes to Midnight, written at the height of the Cold War in 1983, is about a nuclear war between the superpowers. The lyrics deal with the bloodlust and indifference to suffering by leaders on both sides of the nuclear exchange. It has a somewhat sarcastic, "dark humor" approach to what would have been global annihilation and millions of deaths. It's an "anti-nuclear war" song, but not to be confused as a more generally anti-war song, because even the most hardcore pacifists/militarists can agree that nuclear war is avoidable at all costs...
    Flagged StrangerInAStrangeLandon September 13, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Read about Iron Maiden songs and what they mean at this website

    ironmaidencommentary.com/
    Flag Marco88on August 20, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:Doomsday clock, this song took a while to grow on me, now I like it a little more, back then it was just filler for me.
    Flag RichardHarriison February 07, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:The doomsday clock, and super song.
    Flag RichardHarriison January 18, 2009   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:"Kill the unborn in the womb" certainly COULD be taken to be a reference to abortion. However, in the context of the song it is about people starting wars which the next generation (the unborn) will fight and die in. I think one of the key lines is " We oil the jaws of the war machine and feed it with our babies. " It basically means that politicians, and the people in general, are being fed political ideas that lead to increasing tensions and conflicts, that will cause to the deaths of future generations.

    " As the madmen play on words and make us all dance to their song,
    To the tune of starving millions to make a better kind of gun. " This is a direct reference to governments who invest heavily in weapons development (arms races etc) while millions starve.

    It also makes direct reference to Belsen- a Nazi Concentration Camp, and Napalm, used heavily in Vietnam.
    Flag warmerdayson November 24, 2008   Link
  • 0
    General Comment:If the song is about the possibility of nuclear war then it does show how the people were feeling when there was a small chance that such war could have indeed broken out.
    Flag wienertakesallon November 10, 2008   Link

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