Be Quick or Be Dead
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| "Be Quick or Be Dead" | ||
|---|---|---|
 |
||
| Single by Iron Maiden | ||
| from the album Fear of the Dark | ||
| B-side(s) | "Nodding Donkey Blues" "Space Station #5" "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" |
|
| Released | 13 April 1992 | |
| Recorded | 1992 | |
| Genre | Heavy metal | |
| Length | 3:25 | |
| Label | EMI | |
| Writer(s) | Bruce Dickinson Janick Gers |
|
| Chart positions | ||
|
||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||
| "Bring Your Daughter...to the Slaughter" (1990) |
"Be Quick or Be Dead" (1992) |
"From Here to Eternity" (1992) |
"Be Quick or Be Dead" is the first single from the Iron Maiden album Fear of the Dark, released in 1992. The song is about several political scandals taking place at the time of its release, including the Robert Maxwell banking scandal, European stock market crashes, and the BCCI case. It was released a month prior to the album and reached #2 on the UK singles chart.
The B-side features two official songs and one hidden track, including an original blues number ("Nodding Donkey Blues") and Montrose cover ("Space Station No. 5"), and the unlisted "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be". The latter is a spoken word comedy piece by Bruce Dickinson (along with acoustic guitar accompaniment from Janick Gers) in which he imitates and makes fun of Maiden manager Rod Smallwood. A similar mockery of Smallwood was released before, as a B-side titled "Sheriff of Huddersfield", which was available in the Wasted Years single.
[edit] Track listing
- "Be Quick or Be Dead" (Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers) – 3:25
- "Nodding Donkey Blues" (Iron Maiden) – 3:18
- "Space Station #5" (Montrose cover) – 3:47
- "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" (Dickinson, Gers) – 8:05 (unlisted) (UK release only)
[edit] Credits
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Janick Gers – guitar, backing vocals
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Nicko McBrain – drums
