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Be Quick or Be Dead
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| "Be Quick or Be Dead" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single by Iron Maiden | ||||
| from the album Fear of the Dark | ||||
| B-side |
| |||
| Released | 13 April 1992 | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 3:24[1] | |||
| Label | EMI | |||
| Songwriters | ||||
| Producers | ||||
| Iron Maiden singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
"Be Quick or Be Dead" is a song by English heavy metal band Iron Maiden, released as the first single from their ninth studio album, Fear of the Dark, on 13 April 1992. The single peaked at No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart and in Finland while reaching the top 10 in Denmark, Ireland, and Norway.
Synopsis
[edit]The song is about several political scandals taking place at the time of its release, including the Robert Maxwell banking scandal (band mascot Eddie is seen with Maxwell on the single cover), European stock market crashes, and the BCCI case. It was released a month prior to the album and reached No. 2 on the UK Singles Chart. The song is faster and heavier than most Iron Maiden songs, and is the band's first single co-written by Janick Gers.
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 last 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 on the "Wasted Years" single.
Track listings
[edit]7-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers | 3:24 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Steve Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Dave Murray, Nicko McBrain | 3:11 |
12-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Dickinson, Gers | 3:24 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Murray, McBrain | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Space Station No. 5" (Montrose Cover) | Ronnie Montrose, Sammy Hagar | 3:47 |
UK 12-inch single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Dickinson, Gers | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" (Hidden Track) | Dickinson, Gers | 8:05 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Murray, McBrain | 3:11 |
| 4. | "Space Station No. 5" (Montrose Cover) | Montrose, Hagar | 3:47 |
CD single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Dickinson, Gers | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Murray, McBrain | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Space Station No. 5" (Montrose Cover) | Montrose, Hagar | 3:47 |
UK CD single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Dickinson, Gers | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Murray, McBrain | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Space Station No. 5" (Montrose Cover; includes hidden track "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be") | Montrose, Hagar | 11:57 |
French CD maxi-single
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | Dickinson, Gers | 3:24 |
| 2. | "Nodding Donkey Blues" | Harris, Dickinson, Gers, Murray, McBrain | 3:11 |
| 3. | "Space Station No. 5" (Montrose Cover) | Montrose, Hagar | 3:47 |
| 4. | "The French Message From Bruce Dickinson" | Dickinson | 1:02 |
Personnel
[edit]Production credits are adapted from the 7 inch single and picture disc covers.[1][2]
Iron Maiden
- Bruce Dickinson – vocals
- Dave Murray – guitar
- Janick Gers – guitar
- Steve Harris – bass guitar, producer
- Nicko McBrain – drums
Production
- Martin Birch – producer
- Derek Riggs – sleeve illustration
- Mike Prior – photography
- George Chin – photography
Charts
[edit]
Weekly charts[edit]
|
Year-end charts[edit]
|
Release history
[edit]| Region | Date | Format(s) | Label(s) | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | 13 April 1992 |
|
EMI | [18] |
| Australia | 27 May 1992 |
|
[19] | |
| Japan | 10 June 1992 | CD | [20] |
References
[edit]- ^ a b "Be Quick or Be Dead" 7 Inch Single (Media notes). EMI. 13 April 1992.
- ^ "Be Quick or Be Dead" Picture Disc Single (Media notes). EMI. 13 April 1992.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead". ARIA Top 50 Singles. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Top 10 Sales in Europe" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 24. 13 June 1992. p. 18. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Eurochart Hot 100 Singles" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 9, no. 18. 2 May 1992. p. 37. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ Nyman, Jake (2005). Suomi soi 4: Suuri suomalainen listakirja (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Tammi. ISBN 951-31-2503-3.
- ^ "Offizielle Deutsche Charts" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. To see the peak chart position, click 'TITEL VON', followed by the artist's name. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "The Irish Charts – Search Results – Be Quick or Be Dead". Irish Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 21, 1992" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead". VG-lista. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Iron Maiden – Be Quick or Be Dead". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Official Singles Chart on 25/4/1992 – Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 8 April 2020.
- ^ "Årstopplistan 1992, Singlar" (in Swedish). Grammotex. Archived from the original on 25 February 2001. Retrieved 7 April 2025.
- ^ "New Releases: Singles" (PDF). Music Week. 11 April 1992. p. 19. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
- ^ "New Release Summary – Product Available from : 27/05/92: Singles". The ARIA Report. No. 121. 26 May 1992. p. 19.
- ^ "アイアン・メイデン | ビー・クイック・オア・ビー・デッド" [Iron Maiden | Be Quick or Be Dead] (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 23 September 2025.
