The Book of Souls Lyrics

[Instrumental Intro]

[Verse 1]
Sacrifices buried with kings
Accompany them on a journey with no end

To an afterlife that's rich with fruit of all the gods
And to face the demons
Of their underworld haunts

[Verse 2]
The sentient is sent to seek out all the truth
A flight to earth that is a given from his birth
To rise from ashes of the dead
Out of the fire is sent to fulfill man's desire

[Pre-Chorus]
By power day and night and death, he ruled them
The sky and earth and the fires, too
Two-headed reptile: symbol of his reign
Universes of the underworld
A life that's full of all the wealth and riches
Can never last for an eternity
After living in a golden paradise
The ultimate sacrifice

[Chorus]
Prophecy of sky gods, the sun and moon
Passing of old ways will come true soon
Falling of ages, forest of kings
The search for the truth, the book of souls
[Verse 3]
The rulers of planets and stars
The power of the kings of traders and the wars
Planetary cycles and the phases of the moon
Is in the document a kingdom they will learn

[Pre-Chorus]
They were praying to the gods of nature
And were living in the cities of stone
Towers reaching upward to the heavens

Sacred wonders for the world unknown
Make their lives be a mystery no more
Records kept and the passing of laws
Sacred gods to the book of lies
When a civilization dies


[Chorus]
Prophecy of sky gods, the sun and moon
Passing of old ways will come true soon
Falling of ages, forest of kings
The lost book of souls, destruction begins

[Instrumental Break]

[Verse 4]
Ascending the throne wearing feathers and shells
He brought back their lives from the void
Alien invasion brings nothing but death
Mass exodus and plant life destroyed
[Verse 5]
Domain of the Earth to the journey of truth
The underworld caves, Mayan slaves
Defeat of the dark lords, the ultimate proof
In the place where the ancestors rule

[Outro]
The book of souls

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About

Genius Annotation

“The Book Of Souls” is the title track from Iron Maiden’s sixteenth album. It draws inspiration from the Mayans, which subsequently led to the Mesoamerican artwork of the album. Co-writer Steve Harris stated that the Mayans “believe that souls live on [after death]”, and Mayanist scholar Simon Martin, who helped the band with the artwork, said that while the civilisation had no Book of Souls, “the Mayans are very big on souls … So as a title, it’s appropriate to Mayan culture, but it’s very much Iron Maiden’s own thing.”

Q&A

Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning

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