Welcome to Songs of Experience: A Bob Dylan Podcast, where we explore the man and the music one song at a time. Henry welcomes legendary rock star, Ezra Furman to talk about 1989's stand-out track from Oh Mercy, "Ring Them Bells."

Follow along with the lyrics below. Please stick around, after the credits for a  special full performance of Ring Them Bells by Ezra Furman, recorded originally for the https://dylanfansforharris.com/ livestream. 

Check out https://www.ezrafurman.com/ for tour and music info. Follow Ezra on Instagram and on Twitter @ezrafurman

Written by: Bob Dylan

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 the 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
 

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