Rime of the Ancient Mariner Lyrics

Hear the rime of the Ancient Mariner
See his eyes as he stops one of three
Mesmerizes one of the wedding guests
Stay here and listen to the nightmares of the Sea

And the music plays on, and the bride pa*ses by
Caught by his spell and the Mariner tells his tale

Driven south to the land of the snow and ice
To a place where nobody's been
Through the snow fog flies the albatross
Hailed in God's name, hoping good luck it brings

And the ship sails on, back to the North
Through the fog and the ice and the albatross follows on
Yeah yeah yeah yeah

The mariner kills the bird of good omen
His shipmates cry against what he's done
But when the fog clears, they justify him
And make themselves a part of the crime

Sailing on and on and North across the sea
Sailing on and on and North 'til all is calm

The albatross begins with its vengeance
A terrible thirst, a curse has begun
His shipmates blame bad luck on the Mariner
About his neck, the dead bird is hung

And the curse goes on and on and on at sea
And the curse goes on and on for them and me

Day after day, day after day, we stuck nor breath nor motion
As idle as a painted ship upon a painted ocean
Water, water, everywhere and all the boards did shrink
Water, water, everywhere nor any drop to drink, no no

There calls the mariner, there comes a ship over the line
How can she sail with no wind in her sails and no tide

See, onward she comes
Onward she nears, out of the sun
See she has no crew
She has no life, wait but there's two

Death and she, Life in Death, they throw their dice for the crew
She wins the Mariner and he belongs to her now

Then crew one by one
They drop down dead, two hundred men
She, she, Life in Death
She lets him live, her chosen one

One after one by the star dogged moon
Too quick for groan or sigh
Each turned his face with a ghastly pang
And cursed me with his eye
Four times fifty living men and I heard nor sigh nor groan
With heavy thump, a lifeless lump
They dropped down one by one

The curse it lives on in their eyes
The Mariner he wished he'd die
Along with the sea creatures
But they lived on, so did he

And by the light of the moon
He prays for their beauty not doom
With heart he blesses them
God's creatures all of them too

Then the spell starts to break
The albatross falls from his neck
Sinks down like lead into the sea
Then down in falls comes the rain

Yeah
Yeah
Yeah

Hear the groans of the long dead seamen
See them stir and they start to rise
Bodies lifted by good spirits
None of them speak and they're lifeless in their eyes

And the revenge is still sought, penance starts again
Cast into a trance and the nightmare carries on

Now the curse is finally lifted
And the Mariner sights his home
Spirits go from the long dead bodies
Form their own light and the Mariner's left alone, yeah

And then a boat came sailing towards him
It was a joy he could not believe
The Pilot's boat, his son and the hermit
Penance of life will fall onto Him

And the ship it sinks like lead into the sea
And the hermit shrives the Mariner of his sins

The Mariner's bound to tell of his story
To tell his tale wherever he goes
To teach God's word by his own example
That we must love all things that God made

And the wedding guest's a sad and wiser man
And the tale goes on and on and on and on

Iron Maiden - Live After Death

Mar 2002

1. Churchill's Speech (Intro)
2. Aces High
3. 2 Minutes to Midnight
4. The Trooper
5. Revelations
6. Flight of Icarus
7. Rime of the Ancient Mariner
8. Powerslave
9. The Number of the Beast
10. Hallowed Be Thy Name
11. Iron Maiden
12. Run to the Hills
13. Running Free
14. Wrathchild
15. 22 Acacia Avenue
16. Children of the Damned
17. Die With Your Boots On
18. Phantom of the Opera
19. 2 Minutes to Midnight [Multimedia Track]