Running Free

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"Running Free"
File:Running Free (Iron Maiden album - cover art).jpg
Single by Iron Maiden
from the album Iron Maiden
B-side 1980 single
"Burning Ambition"(UK)
"Prowler" (Japan)
1985 live single
"Sanctuary (live)"
"Murders in the Rue Morgue (live)"
Released 8 February 1980
13 September 1985
Recorded January 1980 ("Running Free")[1] December 1979 ("Burning Ambition")[2]
March 1985 ("Running Free" (live) & "Sanctuary" (live)
October 1984 ("Murders in the Rue Morgue" (live)
Genre Heavy metal
Length 3:04
3:26[3]
Label EMI
Writer(s) Steve Harris
Paul Di'Anno
Producer(s) Wil Malone[4]
Martin Birch (1985 live single)[3]
Iron Maiden singles chronology
"Running Free"
(1980)
"Sanctuary"
(1980)

"Aces High"
(1984)

"Running Free (live)"
(1985)

"Run to the Hills (live)"
(1985)
Iron Maiden track listing
"Remember Tomorrow"
(3)
"Running Free"
(4)
"Phantom of the Opera"
(5)
1980 Japanese cover
1980 Japanese cover
1985 live cover

"Running Free" is the debut single by Iron Maiden, released on 8 February 1980 on the 7" 45 rpm vinyl record format. It was written by Steve Harris and Paul Di'Anno. The song appears as the third track on the band's debut album Iron Maiden (and the fourth track on its 1998 re-release). In 1985, a live version of the song was released as the first single from Live After Death (the band's twelfth single).

Background

According to vocalist Paul Di'Anno, who wrote the song's lyrics, it is "a very autobiographical song, though of course I've never spent the night in an LA jail. It's about being 16 and, like it says, just running wild and running free. It comes from my days as a skinhead."[5] The song is known to be one of the band's more traditional rock numbers, which Mick Wall describes as "Iron Maiden at their punk-metal apotheosis,"[5] and is still performed live to this day.

The single's cover art is famously known as the first official appearance of Iron Maiden's mascot, Eddie, although his face is obscured as the band did not want him unveiled until the album's release.[6] Several band names (such as Scorpions, Judas Priest, AC/DC, Sex Pistols and Led Zeppelin) are spray painted on the wall behind the youth in the picture, as well as the word "Hammers," a tribute to West Ham United.[6] Ironically, the live single's cover art is the first not to feature Eddie, as it shows a real picture of the band performing on stage.

The B-side "Burning Ambition," recorded in December 1979 with producer Guy Edwards as a 4-piece band just prior to hiring Dennis Stratton & Clive Burr,[2] is one of Harris' earliest compositions written around the time he was in Gypsy's Kiss. It is one of the few recordings to feature Doug Sampson on drums. The guitar solo in this song is played by Dave Murray. The song did not appear on an album until it was included in the Best of the 'B' Sides compilation, released as part of the Eddie's Archive Boxset, and was featured in the soundtrack of The History of Iron Maiden – Part 1: The Early Days DVD documentary.

Iron Maiden's first single in Japan featured "Prowler" as the A-side and "Running Free" as the B-side. The cover used was the censored version of the "Sanctuary" single.[7]

Track listing

1980 single

  1. "Running Free" (Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno) - 3:04
  2. "Burning Ambition" (Harris) - 2:39

1980 Japanese single

  1. "Prowler" (Harris) - 3:55
  2. "Running Free" (Harris, Di'Anno) - 3:16[7]

1985 live single

  1. "Running Free" (live - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California 14-17 March 1985) (Harris, Di'Anno) - 3:26
  2. "Sanctuary" (live - Long Beach Arena, Long Beach, California 14-17 March 1985) (Iron Maiden) - 4:38
  3. "Murders In The Rue Morgue" (live - Hammersmith Odeon, London 8-12 October 1984) (Harris) - 4:30

Personnel

1980 single

Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch vinyl cover,[4] and The First Ten Years CD re-release liner notes.[8]

Production

1985 live single

Production credits are adapted from the 12 inch vinyl cover.[3]

Iron Maiden
Production

Chart performance

Single Chart (1980) Peak
position
Album
"Running Free" UK Singles Chart 34[9] Iron Maiden
Single Chart (1985) Peak
position
Album
"Running Free (Live)" Irish Singles Chart 12[10] Live After Death
UK Singles Chart 19[11]
Single Chart (1990) Peak
position
Album
"Running Free / Sanctuary" UK Albums Chart[note 1] 10[12]
"Running Free (Live) / Run to the Hills (Live)" 9[13]

Notes

  1. Re-release of all four singles as part of The First Ten Years box set. Exceeded the length limit of the UK Singles chart.

References

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External links