The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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
Through the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as 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 poet and the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
In 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
For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chaineded 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 flared
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 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
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
Through the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden as 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 poet and the painter far behind his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
In 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
For the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute
For the misdemeanor outlaw, chaineded 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 flared
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 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
Lyrics submitted by Jack, edited by Mellow_Harsher
Chimes of Freedom Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
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There is still an amazing amount of hope and will in the lyrics; and the lyrics themselve rank and easy five. If only music was stronger it would be one of those great radio songs that you hear once a week 20 years after it was released. The imagery is almost tear-jerking ("City lights lay out before us", "Speeds so fast felt like I was drunk"), and the idea of starting from nothing and just driving and working and denigrating yourself for a chance at being just above poverty, then losing in the end is just painful and inspiring at the same time.
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This song was originally written by a guy called Peter Gutteridge. He was one of the founders of the "Dunedin Sound" a musical scene in the south of New Zealand in the early 80s. From there it was covered by "The Clean" one of the early bands of that scene (he had originally been a member of in it's early days, writing a couple of their best early songs). The Dunedin sound, and the Clean became popular on american college radio in the mid to late 80s. I guess Yo La Tengo heard that version.
Great version of a great song,
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This is a sequel to 2001's "Reckless Abandon", and features the band looking back on their clumsy youth fondly.
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I think this song is written from the point of view of a young person who is on the cusp of youthful optimism and love of life, and a realisation of all the pain and unfairness that exists in the world. It's very bittersweet.
Like most of his songs, this is intensely personal. This song is at the essence of Another Side, the side that Dylan always wanted to express, but couldn't figure out how to do it (until 1964). This isn't a protest song. It's about the freedom we all wish we had, but know we probably never will. Not freedom in a political sense, but in a personal sense. The kind of freedom that effects every moment of every day. Many people don't want to seek this freedom, or have given up. This song is a tribute to freedom at its essence, the undefinable freedom, and the deep desire for it which pains one with the knowledge that this kind of freedom is nearly impossible to obtain and takes superhuman strength, wisdom, and drive to ever achieve. At least, that's what I get out of it.
God, Dylan is almost too god for this site. Take from it what you will he makes many comments throughout the song "Chiming for the soldier who's strength is not to fight" an advocate of peace, maybe. You can take much more from this song, he writes so beautifully.
Powerful lyrics. Gotta say I like the Byrds version of it better and the Springsteen live version even more than that.
@Moses19 Agree!<br /> I've always interpreted it from the optimism of two lovers sheltering from a storm, but it really being about people's inability to see our freedoms 'flashing' out of existence. That each one disappears rhythmically that we don't see when it happens. We're spellbound by our own little bubbles that we lack the observance of continuous loss of freedoms and our good, and don't act soon enough to stop what we know should be stopped.<br /> Amazing lyrics.<br />
I think that the premise of the song is that one evening, between dusk and midnight, a storm strikes. Dylan and a few others take shelter in a church or cathedral. The first verse is about looking at the storm and feeling its majesty. Dylan uses metaphors of honorable soldiers "who's strength is not too fight". The idea of refugees too, possibly the soldiers are in a war to protect their rights, or simply that the storm is protecting them from unwanted attention. The use of the verb "flashing" here, serves to enforce this feeling of triumph.
In the second verse, Dylan is trying to convey the the power of the storm and the image of a melted furnace is perfect in conveying this. Wedding bells too, normally so loud, dissolve into the sound of the thunder ("Bells of lightening" such a great concept!) Here, Dylan uses the word "tolling", which has connotations of a long arduous task, for example, fieldwork. The people that represent this are the rebels, the outcasts and the luckless, all those who struggle against a much higher power.
I am less certain of the third verse, but from the talk of kind, gentle protectors and guardians, I think what Dylan is trying to say is that the storm is a provider, a protector of life. Indeed, the storm is far more powerful than anything man-made, the church bells for example. With its life giving water, the storm is more of a protector than the Church will ever be.
In the fourth verse, "the rain unravels tales", clearly Dylan & co are trading stories. In the process, they come to realise that they are all have their own lives, experiences, stories, issues and opinions. Without this storm, they probably would not have shared them at all. Dylan then sings about those who have no-one to talk to, the "mateless mother" or the outlaw, or those who cannot share, the deaf or blind. "The tongues with no place to bring their thoughts".
The fifth verse has me flummoxed.
In the sixth verse, Dylan sings of them watching the end of the storm "spellbound 'til the tolling ended". Although this is good news, they can continue on their journeys, Dylan identifies with those who cannot move on, the permanently wounded, the misused and the wrongly accused, and those who are no longer of this world.
Each verse finishes with "an' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing". Dylan is both trying to portray a feeling of awe and a feeling of helplessness, apparent from the "story" of each verse. However, the whole line is fraught with irony, after all the storm itself is keeping them hostage, trapped inside a church until it finishes.
Only Dylan can do this song justice. The imagery in this song is some of his best (and therefore the best ever written.)
'Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder'
I read somewhere that this is considered to be one of his acid songs but i don't think so. I think it's a testament to Dylan's writting skills that people find it impossible to believe that someone could just imagine this.
One of the greatest poems of the century. And the version in Another Side is wonderful. It's not about liking it or not. It's great - that's a fact.
This is our National Anthem.
At the risk of stating the obvious the words are about 2 people caught in a thunder and lightning storm, sheltering in a doorway, and staring up into the sky. Imagining this scenario and especially if you've been in such a situation yourself takes this song from good to great. Dylan, is untouchable as a vocalist in the way he handles a lyric. These words on paper are flat out great by any standards. Sung by a youthful and starry eyed Dyaln is just too much. Too good.
Acid, through and through...