Running Free

{{Infobox song

| name = Running Free

| cover = Running Free (Iron Maiden album - cover art).jpg

| alt =

| type = single

| artist = Iron Maiden

| album = Iron Maiden

| B-side = "Burning Ambition"

| released = 8 February 1980

| format =

| recorded = December 1979-January 1980 ("Running Free"){{cite book | author=Wall, Mick |author-link=Mick Wall | title=Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.)| publisher=Sanctuary Publishing | year=2004 | isbn=1-86074-542-3 |page=129}}https://blabbermouth.net/news/iron-maiden-the-clive-burr-trust-fund-update ("Clive joined the band at the very end of December 1979") November 1979 ("Burning Ambition"){{cite book | author=Wall, Mick |author-link=Mick Wall | title=Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.)| publisher=Sanctuary Publishing | year=2004 | isbn=1-86074-542-3 |page=126}}
March 1985 ("Running Free" (live) & "Sanctuary" (live)
October 1984 ("Murders in the Rue Morgue" (live)

| studio =

| venue =

| genre = Heavy metal

| length = 3:04
3:26

| label = EMI

| writer = Steve Harris
Paul Di'Anno

| producer = Will Malone
Martin Birch (1985 live single)

| prev_title =

| prev_year =

| next_title = Sanctuary

| next_year = 1980

| misc = {{Extra chronology

| artist =

| type = single

| prev_title = Aces High

| prev_year = 1984

| title = Running Free (Live in 1985)

| year = 1985

| next_title = Run to the Hills (Live in 1985)

| next_year = 1985

}}

{{Extra album cover

| header = 1980 Japanese cover

| type = single

| cover = Running_Free_Japan.jpeg

| border =

| alt =

| caption =

}}

{{Extra album cover

| header = 1985 live cover

| type = single

| cover = Iron Maiden - Running Free (1985 live cover).jpg

| border =

| alt =

| caption =

}}

"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). In 1990, the original single was reissued on CD and 12" vinyl as part of The First Ten Years box, in which it was combined with the band's next single, "Sanctuary". The 1985 live single was also released as part of this box set, combined with 1985's "Run to the Hills".

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."{{cite book | author=Wall, Mick |author-link=Mick Wall | title=Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.)| publisher=Sanctuary Publishing | year=2004 | isbn=1-86074-542-3 |page=132}} The song is one of the band's more traditional rock numbers, which Mick Wall describes as "Iron Maiden at their punk-metal apotheosis," 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.{{cite book | author=Wall, Mick |author-link=Mick Wall | title=Iron Maiden: Run to the Hills, the Authorised Biography (3rd ed.)| publisher=Sanctuary Publishing | year=2004 | isbn=1-86074-542-3 |page=133}} 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, and "Vambo" which refers to The Sensational Alex Harvey Band.

The B-side "Burning Ambition", recorded in November 1979 at Wessex Studios with producer Guy Edwards as a 4-piece band just prior to hiring Dennis Stratton & Clive Burr, 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, and the only one released by the band (demo versions of "Wrathchild" and "Sanctuary" with Sampson on drums were released on the NWOBHM compilation album Metal for Muthas). 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.

As an accident, the German and French pressings of the "Running Free" 7" contain the Running Free track from the Wessex Studio sessions with Doug Sampson on drums and only Dave Murray on guitar. That same version of "Running Free" also appeared on early pressings of the Axe Attack compilation album.

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.{{cite web

| url = http://www.discogs.com/Iron-Maiden-Prowler/release/2765855

| title = Iron Maiden – "Prowler"

| publisher = Discogs

| access-date = 5 April 2012

}}

Track listing

;1980 7" UK single

{{tracklist

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Running Free

| length1 = 3:04

| writer1 = Steve Harris, Paul Di'Anno

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title2 = Burning Ambition

| length2 = 2:39

| writer2 = Harris

}}

;7" Japanese single

{{tracklist

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Prowler

| length1 = 3:55

| writer1 = Harris

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title2 = Running Free

| length2 = 3:16

| writer2 = Harris, Di'Anno

}}

;1985 7" Live single

{{tracklist

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Running Free

| note1 = Live at Long Beach Arena, California, America, 14–17 March 1985

| length1 = 3:26

| writer1 = Harris, Di'Anno

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title2 = Sanctuary

| note2 = Live at Long Beach Arena, California, America, 14–17 March 1985

| length2 = 4:38

| writer2 = Harris, Dave Murray, Di'Anno,

}}

;1985 12" Live single

{{tracklist

| headline = Side one

| title1 = Running Free

| note1 = Live at Long Beach Arena, California, America, 14–17 March 1985

| length1 = 3:26

| writer1 = Harris, Di'Anno

}}

{{tracklist

| headline = Side two

| title1 = Sanctuary

| note1 = Live at Long Beach Arena, California, America, 14–17 March 1985

| length1 = 4:38

| writer1 = Harris, Murray, Di'Anno

| title2 = Murders in the Rue Morgue

| note2 = Live at Hammersmith Odeon, London, England, 12 October 1984

| writer2 = Harris

| length2 = 4:30

}}

Personnel

=1980 single=

Production credits are adapted from the 7-inch vinyl cover,{{cite AV media notes |title="Running Free" 7 Inch Single|others=Iron Maiden |date=8 February 1980 |publisher=EMI }} and The First Ten Years CD re-release liner notes.{{cite AV media notes |title="Running Free / Sanctuary" The First Ten Years CD|others=Iron Maiden |date=24 February 1990 |publisher=EMI }}

Paul Di'Anno – lead vocals
Dave Murray – guitar
Dennis Stratton – guitar & backing vocals on "Running Free" only
Steve Harris – bass guitar & backing vocals
Clive Burr – drums on "Running Free" only
Doug Sampson – drums on "Burning Ambition" only (And Running Free on the German and French pressings)

;Production

Wil Malone – producer
Gary Edwards – producer ("Burning Ambition")
Derek Riggs – cover illustration
Ross Halfin – photography

=1985 live single=

Production credits are adapted from the 12-inch vinyl cover.{{cite AV media notes |title="Running Free live" 12 Inch Single|others=Iron Maiden |date=13 September 1985 |publisher=EMI }}

;Iron Maiden

Bruce Dickinson – vocals
Dave Murray – guitar
Adrian Smith – guitar, backing vocals
Steve Harris – bass guitar, backing vocals
Nicko McBrain – drums

;Production

Martin Birch – producer, engineer, mixing
Ross Halfin – photography