Chimes of Freedom. lyrics

Far between sundown's finish

an' midnight's broken toll

We ducked inside the doorway,

thunder crashing

As majestic bells of bolts struck

shadows in the sounds

Seeming to be the chimes of freedom

flashing

Flashing for the warriors

whose strength is not to fight

Flashing for the refugees

on the unarmed road of flight

An' for each an' ev'ry

underdog soldier in the night

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the city's melted furnace,

unexpectedly we watched

With faces hidden while the walls

were tightening

As the echo of the wedding bells

before the blowin' rain

Dissolved into the bells of the lightning

Tolling for the rebel

tolling for the rake

Tolling for the luckless,

the abandoned an' forsaked

Tolling for the outcast,

burnin' constantly at stake

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

In the city's melted furnace,

unexpectedly we watched

With faces hidden while the walls

were tightening

As the echo of the wedding bells

before the blowin' rain

Dissolved into the bells of the lightning

Tolling for the rebel

tolling for the rake

Tolling for the luckless,

the abandoned an' forsaked

Tolling for the outcast,

burnin' constantly at stake

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the mad mystic hammering

of the wild ripping hail

The sky cracked its poems

in naked wonder

That the clinging of the church bells

blew far into the breeze

Leaving only bells of lightning

and its thunder

Striking for the gentle,

striking for the kind

Striking for the guardians

and protectors of the mind

An' the unpawned painter

behind beyond his rightful time

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

Through the wild cathedral

evening the rain unraveled tales

For the disrobed faceless forms

of no position

Tolling for the tongues

with no place to bring their thoughts

All down in

taken-for-granted situations

Tolling for the deaf an' blind,

tolling for the mute

Tolling for the mistreated,

mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute

For the misdemeanor outlaw,

chased an' cheated by pursuit

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

Even though a cloud's white curtain

in a far-off corner flashed

An' the hypnotic splattered mist

was slowly lifting

Electric light still struck like arrows,

fired but for the ones

Condemned to drift

or else be kept from drifting

Tolling for the searching ones,

on their speechless, seeking trail

For the lonesome-hearted lovers

with too personal a tale

An' for each unharmful,

gentle soul misplaced inside a jail

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

Starry-eyed an' laughing

as I recall when we were caught

Trapped by no track of hours

for they hanged suspended

As we listened

one last time

an' we watched with one last look

Spellbound an' swallowed

'til the tolling ended

Tolling for the aching ones

whose wounds cannot be nursed

For the countless confused,

accused, misused, strung-out ones an' worse

An' for every hung-up person

in the whole wide universe

An' we gazed upon

the chimes of freedom flashing.

• Artist:Bob Dylan
• Album:Another Side of Bob Dylan (1964)