Sitting, waiting in the falling rain
Getting ready to begin again
Wounded, lying, crying bodies moving, dying
All around there is the smell of death and fire
Here the planes are coming
Hear the soldiers running
Killing on a scale to comprehend

Why are we here?
In this place, here to kill
Please God, forgive us for what we have done

I always thought I was doing right
As of now, I'm not feeling so sure
I'm at a place of where I give no grace
I'm a soldier of war

I sit waiting for my darkest hour to come
I cannot think of about the things that I have done
It shouldn't take a fool to see that I believe
Accept the consequence, repent for what I've done

You tell me what is certain but I'll tell you what is true
You tell me what is honesty when all around is death and cruelty
I'm making out, my mind is vile, I'm giving in to our desires
Within the truth that lies within the only thing

Mother of mercy, angel of death desire
Mother of mercy taking my last breath of fire
Mother of mercy, angel of pain
Mother of mercy taking my last breath

Some say you are a lost cause, some say you're a saint
Just being here's and act of suffering and restraint
Walked down a long dark road to ruin and panic not
I'll die a lonely death, of that I'm certain of

Rivers flow with blood, there's nowhere left to hide
It's hard to comprehend there's anyone left alive
Sick of all the killing and the reek of death
Will God tell me what religion is to man?

I don't hold with bad religion, understand what's underneath it
Now I come to think of it, I just don't hold at all, you know it
You say you are a holy man but what is it you do?
From where I stand there's nothing but a hollow man I see

Mother of mercy, angel of death desire
Mother of mercy taking my last breath of fire
Mother of mercy, angel of pain
Mother of mercy taking my last breath

Mother of mercy, angel of death desire
Mother of mercy taking my last breath of fire
Mother of mercy, angel of pain
Mother of mercy drawing my last breath

I'm just a lonely soldier fighting in a bloody hopeless war
Don't know what I'm fighting, who it is, or what I'm fighting for
Thought it was for money, made my fortune, now I'm not so sure
Seemed to just have lost my way


Lyrics submitted by star tripper, edited by Mellow_Harsher

Mother of Mercy Lyrics as written by Stephen Percy Harris Adrian Frederick Smith

Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group

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Mother of Mercy song meanings
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7 Comments

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  • +1
    General Comment

    ok, i think this song is about a solider, who went to war thinking that the cause was right, but after the war he repents, realizing that the war was not actually fought for the porpose that it was sopposed to be for. then, at the end, it shows that this same thing has happend for diffrent reasons but the effect is always the same. great song.

    sven1010on October 27, 2010   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    i think this song is about a solider that does not know why he joined the army (don't know what time period) and doesn't want to fight anymore and is praying to the mother mercy to let him live. that is my interpretation anyway

    salyer9867on August 19, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Really? My interpretation was that it's a soldier that's dying and praying to the mother mercy to let him go to heaven, to forgive him for his military sins and to spare him from Hell's flames.

    star tripperon August 22, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think that the solider has in an aftermath of the battle realised that none of this desttruction makes sense and is taking his own life because after his realisation he can't live with himself any more. Thus the "Taking my last breath, of fire" part. His last breath is a bullet.

    Krad23on August 30, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I might be about the Iraq war. It took me a while to figure it out because Maiden wrote it from an independent standpoint and I'm used to hearing the American bias.

    You say you are a holy man, but what is it you do From where I stand is nothing but a hollow man I see

    ...is sort of what gave it away because us and the Taliban are both doing what we think is right, but from outside the conflict (in the UK) it seems like we're just "fighting in a bloody, hopeless war."

    deathbeans9on September 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    Also, They could've easily added the word 'again' to the last line of the chorus so it would rhyme and still flow well. The rest of the album, including this song, kicks ass.

    deathbeans9on September 06, 2010   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I think its a guy fighting in an ideological war (maybe a crusade) but he joined for money hear me out

    "Will god tell me what religion is to man I don't hold with bad religion understand what's underneath it Now I come to think of it, I just don't hold at all you know it You say you are a holy man, but what is it you do From where I stand is nothing but a hollow man I see"

    He followed the religious leaders into the war but isnt that much of a believer, well like a typical person believes in some sort god but isnt a fanatical supporter of the religion and so can see that the religion and its 'holy man' lacks substance

    "I'm just a lonely soldier fighting in a bloody hopeless war Don't know what I'm fighting, who it is, or what I'm fighting for Thought it was for money, make my fortune, now I'm not so sure Seem to just have lost my way "

    He originally went for money and probably heard it was a righteous cause anyway. Now he has realised the horror he's helped unleash and regrets it big time.

    It throws you a bit because it isnt about any given side or conflict it could apply to any ideological war, you always get guys fighting that dont really believe in the cause just after fortune.

    EdSmithon September 21, 2010   Link

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