Ring them bells, ye heathen from the city that dreams
Ring them bells from the sanctuaries cross the valleys and streams
For they're deep and they're wide and the world's on its side
And time is running backwards and so is the bride

Ring them bells St. Peter where the four winds blow
Ring them bells with an iron hand, so the people will know
Oh, it's rush hour now on the wheel and the plow
And the sun is going down upon that sacred cow

Ring them bells Sweet Martha for the poor man's son
Ring them bells so the world will know that God is one
Oh, the shepherd is asleep where the willows weep
And the mountains are filled with lost sheep

Ring them bells for the blind and the deaf
Ring them bells for all of us who are left
Ring them bells for the chosen few
Who will judge the many when the game is through
Ring them bells for the time that flies
For the child that cries when innocence dies

Ring them bells St. Catherine from the top of the room
Ring them from the fortress for the lilies that bloom
Oh, the lines are long and the fighting is strong
And they're breaking down the distance between right and wrong


Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher

Ring Them Bells Lyrics as written by Bob Dylan

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group

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Ring Them Bells (Bob Dylan cover) song meanings
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4 Comments

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  • 0
    General Comment

    I really like this song.

    natelessardon December 02, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    sufjan's cover is better than the original, i think. it's more interesting if nothing else.

    i'm curious as to why he chose to cover this song, though?

    loveinvincibleon December 19, 2007   Link
  • 0
    General Comment

    I really like the way Sufjan says "blows"...;)

    wombo2on January 04, 2009   Link
  • 0
    My Interpretation

    Yes, the song is certainly filled with Biblical imagery. It also contains other symbols of spirituality like "sacred cow." I interpret this song as an account of end times, our times, in which spirituality, art, and religion are all gasping their last great breath before the end (or beginning) of this world. I also like the way this song shows the predestined nature of all life, that we are all in a vast story, and that it is happening right now: we are players on a players stage.

    Sufjan is really into this kind of philosophy/world view, which is why he would have chosen to cover it. The way he mixes the sound of the music in the song, stylistically, with a kind of a folk rock mellowness and a grandiose orchestration also adds to the paradoxical meaning of the song.

    markosfunkon March 16, 2010   Link

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