Released: September 23, 1990
Songwriter: Dave Mustaine
Producer: Dave Mustaine Mike Clink
Part 1: Holy Wars
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1]
Brother will kill brother, spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion, something I don't understand
Fools like me who cross the sea and come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep for their beliefs, "do you kill on God's command?"
A country that's divided surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace, no foolish naive stand
The end is near, it's crystal clear, part of the master plan
Don't look now to Israel, it might be your homeland
Holy wars...
[Verse 2]
Upon my podium as the “know-it-all scholar”
Down in my seat of judgement, gavel's bang, uphold the law
Up on my soapbox, a leader out to change the world
Down in my pulpit as the holier-than-thou-could-be-messenger of God
Part 2: The Punishment Due
[Verse 3]
Wage the war on organized crime
Sneak attacks, rappel down the rocks, behind the lines
Some people risk to employ me
Some people live to destroy me
Either way they die... they die!
[Verse 4]
They killed my wife and my baby
With hopes to enslave me
First mistake... last mistake!
Paid by the alliance
To slay all the giants
Next mistake... no more mistakes!
[Guitar Solo & Instrumental Shift]
[Verse 5]
Fill the cracks in with judicial granite
Because I don't say it don't mean I ain't thinking it
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose
And the lack of mercy killings
Mercy killings
Mercy killings, killings, killings, killings
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
[Instrumental Intro]
[Verse 1]
Brother will kill brother, spilling blood across the land
Killing for religion, something I don't understand
Fools like me who cross the sea and come to foreign lands
Ask the sheep for their beliefs, "do you kill on God's command?"
A country that's divided surely will not stand
My past erased, no more disgrace, no foolish naive stand
The end is near, it's crystal clear, part of the master plan
Don't look now to Israel, it might be your homeland
Holy wars...
[Verse 2]
Upon my podium as the “know-it-all scholar”
Down in my seat of judgement, gavel's bang, uphold the law
Up on my soapbox, a leader out to change the world
Down in my pulpit as the holier-than-thou-could-be-messenger of God
Part 2: The Punishment Due
[Verse 3]
Wage the war on organized crime
Sneak attacks, rappel down the rocks, behind the lines
Some people risk to employ me
Some people live to destroy me
Either way they die... they die!
[Verse 4]
They killed my wife and my baby
With hopes to enslave me
First mistake... last mistake!
Paid by the alliance
To slay all the giants
Next mistake... no more mistakes!
[Guitar Solo & Instrumental Shift]
[Verse 5]
Fill the cracks in with judicial granite
Because I don't say it don't mean I ain't thinking it
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
I know what I said, now I must scream of the overdose
And the lack of mercy killings
Mercy killings
Mercy killings, killings, killings, killings
Next thing you know, they'll take my thoughts away
Anthology: Set the World Afire
- Tornado of Souls
- Breakpoint
- Go to Hell
- Angry Again
- Trust
- She-Wolf
- Insomnia
- Prince of Darkness
- Dread and the Fugitive Mind
- Kill the King
- Hangar 18
- Crown of Worms
- Into the Lungs of Hell
- New World Order (Demo)
- Reckoning Day/Peace Sells (Live Trax)
- Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
- The Killing Road
- Train of Consequences
- Rattlehead
- Mechanix
- Wake Up Dead
- Peace Sells
- Devils Island
- Set the World Afire
- Anarchy in the U.K.
- In My Darkest Hour
- À Tout le Monde
- Take No Prisoners
- Skin o’ My Teeth
- Foreclosure of a Dream
- Sweating Bullets
- Ashes in Your Mouth
- High Speed Dirt (Demo)
- Rust in Peace (1990)
- Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years (2000)
- Best Heavy Metal Album in the World...Ever! (2004)
- Greatest Hits: Back to the Start (2005)
- Anthology: Set the World Afire (2008)
- Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock Soundtrack (2010)
- Warheads on Foreheads (2019)
- Holy Wars... The Punishment Due
- À Tout le Monde
- Tornado of Souls
- Symphony of Destruction
- Peace Sells
- In My Darkest Hour
- Sweating Bullets
- Hangar 18
- Rust in Peace... Polaris
- Five Magics
- Mechanix
- Take No Prisoners
- Dystopia
- Trust
- The Conjuring
- Hook in Mouth
- Countdown to Extinction
- Lucretia
- Good Mourning/Black Friday
- Set the World Afire
- Angry Again
- Wake Up Dead
- Dawn Patrol
- Conquer or Die!