Aaron Copland Follow

We ducked inside the doorway thunder crashing
As majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sound
Seeming to be the chimes of freedom crashing

Flashing for the warriors whose strength is not to fight
Flashing for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight
An' for each an' every underdog soldier in the night
We gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Well, in the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden while the walls were tightenin'
As the echo of the weddin' bells before the blowin' rain
Dissolved into the wild bells of lightnin'

We're tollin' for the rebel, we're tollin' for the rake
Tollin' for the luckless, the abandoned an' forsaked
Hey, tollin' for the outcast, burnin' constantly at stake
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing, oh, yeah

An' even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
Is the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly liftin'
Where the electric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones
Condemned to drift or else be kept from driftin'

We're tollin' for the searchin' ones, on their speechless, seekin' 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

The starry-eyed an' laughin', 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 is the tollin' ended

Yeah, tollin' for the achin' 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