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about

I first heard this song in a version by The Byrds, then later by Bruce Springsteen, then a three-language version by Youssou N’Dour, and then in tribute versions by Neil Young and Billy Bragg. The song embraces the oppressed everywhere and offers a glimpse of personal freedom in fearful times. 'For every hung-up person in the whole wide universe.'

lyrics

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

In the city's melted furnace, unexpectedly we watched
With faces hidden while 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 ringing 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 beyond his rightful time
An' we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing

Even though a cloud's white curtain in a far-off corner flashed
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 un-harmful, 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 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

credits

from Heavy Duty - Ballads of the Unfree, released February 1, 2018
Bob Dylan

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Bill Lloyd Kendal, UK

Bill Lloyd is a folk singer and multi-instrumentalist from the Lake District in northern England. He plays 5 string banjo and Galician gaita bagpipes, uilleann pipes and whistles, He is a versatile singer in the ‘high lonesome’ mountain style, delicate ballads, and ‘come-all-ye’ folk styles. Bill is an experienced storyteller, compere, music promoter, record producer and festival organiser. ... more

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