Franklin's Tower Lyrics

Lyric discussion by alty6905 

Cover art for Franklin's Tower lyrics by Grateful Dead

The lyrics to this song are about the Ben Franklin's process of creating the Liberty Bell. To make a bell of such a large magnitude, Franklin invented the method of "rolling the dew." After the bell is cast and still hot, it is exposed to large amounts of steam. Afterwards, the bell is rolled in large amounts of cotton sheets. Franklin's peers questioned this technique, upon which Ben replied, "If you get confused, listen to the music play." Thanks to Andrew Shalit for this information.