Be Quick or Be Dead

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"Be Quick or Be Dead"
"Be Quick or Be Dead" cover
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
  • 2 (UK charts)
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.

  1. "Be Quick or Be Dead" (Bruce Dickinson, Janick Gers) – 3:25
  2. "Nodding Donkey Blues" (Iron Maiden) – 3:18
  3. "Space Station #5" (Montrose cover) – 3:47
  4. "Bayswater Ain't a Bad Place to Be" (Dickinson, Gers) – 8:05 (unlisted) (UK release only)

Iron Maiden
Bruce Dickinson | Dave Murray | Janick Gers | Adrian Smith | Steve Harris | Nicko McBrain
List of past and present Iron Maiden members
Discography
Studio albums: Iron Maiden | Killers | The Number of the Beast | Piece of Mind | Powerslave | Somewhere in Time | Seventh Son of a Seventh Son | No Prayer for the Dying | Fear of the Dark | The X Factor | Virtual XI | Brave New World | Dance of Death | A Matter of Life and Death
Live albums: Live After Death | A Real Live One | A Real Dead One | Live at Donington | A Real Live Dead One | Rock in Rio | The BBC Archives | Beast Over Hammersmith | Death on the Road
Compilations and box-sets: The First Ten Years | Best of the Beast | Ed Hunter | Edward the Great | Eddie's Archive | Best of the B'Sides | The Essential Iron Maiden
Videos and DVDs: Live at the Rainbow | Video Pieces | Behind the Iron Curtain | Live After Death | 12 Wasted Years | Maiden England | The First Ten Years: The Videos | From There to Eternity | Donington Live 1992 | Raising Hell | Classic Albums: The Number of the Beast | Rock in Rio | Visions of the Beast | The Early Days | Death on the Road
EPs: The Soundhouse Tapes | Live!! +one | Maiden Japan | No More Lies
Singles
"Running Free" | "Sanctuary" | "Women in Uniform" | "Twilight Zone" | "Purgatory" | "Run to the Hills" | "The Number of the Beast" | "Flight of Icarus" | "The Trooper" | "2 Minutes to Midnight" | "Aces High" | "Running Free (live)" | "Run to the Hills (live '85)" | "Wasted Years" | "Stranger in a Strange Land" | "Can I Play with Madness" | "The Evil That Men Do" | "The Clairvoyant (live)" | "Infinite Dreams" | "Holy Smoke" | "Bring Your Daughter...To the Slaughter" | "Be Quick or Be Dead" | "From Here to Eternity" | "Wasting Love" | "Fear of the Dark (live)" | "Hallowed Be Thy Name (live)" | "Man on the Edge" | "Lord of the Flies" | "Virus" | "The Angel and the Gambler" | "Futureal" | "The Wicker Man" | "Out of the Silent Planet" | "Run to the Hills (live '01)" | "Wildest Dreams" | "Rainmaker" | "The Number of the Beast (2005)" | "The Trooper (live)" | "The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg" | "Different World"
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