This early masterpiece will be studied by scholars 810 years from now. It will hopefully still be sung in halls, and sadly will likely be just as relevant as it was in 1963 and 2024.<\/p>\n
Far between sundown’s finish and midnight’s broken toll<\/em>
\nWe ducked inside the doorways, thunder went crashing<\/em>
\nAs majestic bells of bolts struck shadows in the sounds<\/em>
\nSeeming to be the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nFlashin’ for the warriors whose strength is not to fight<\/em>
\nFlashin’ for the refugees on the unarmed road of flight<\/em>
\nAnd for each an’ every underdog soldier in the night<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nThrough the city’s melting furnace, unexpectedly we watched<\/em>
\nWith faces hidden as the walls were tightening<\/em>
\nAs the echo of the wedding bells before the blowin’ rain<\/em>
\nDissolved into the bells of the lightning<\/em>
\nTolling for the rebel, tolling for the rake<\/em>
\nTolling for the luckless, the abandoned and forsaked<\/em>
\nTolling for the outcast burnin’ constantly at stake<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nThrough the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail<\/em>
\nThe sky cracked its poems in naked wonder<\/em>
\nThat the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze<\/em>
\nLeaving only bells of lightning and its thunder<\/em>
\nStriking for the gentle, striking for the kind<\/em>
\nStriking for the guardians and protectors of the mind<\/em>
\nAnd the poet and the painter pull out of his rightful time<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nThrough the wild cathedral evening, the rain unraveled tales<\/em>
\nFor the disrobed faceless forms of no position<\/em>
\nTolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts<\/em>
\nAll down in taken-for-granted situations<\/em>
\nTolling for the deaf and blind, tolling for the mute<\/em>
\nFor the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute<\/em>
\nFor the misdemeanor outlaw, chased and cheated by pursuit<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nEven though a cloud’s white curtain in a far-off corner flared<\/em>
\nAnd the hypnotic splattered mist was slowly liftin’<\/em>
\nElectric light still struck like arrows, fired but for the ones<\/em>
\nCondemned to drift or else be kept from drifting<\/em>
\nTolling for the searching on their speechless, seeking trail<\/em>
\nFor the lonesome-hearted lovers with too personal a tale<\/em>
\nAnd for each unharmful, gentle soul misplaced inside a jail<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em>
\nStarry-eyed and laughing as I recall when we were caught<\/em>
\nTrapped by no track of hours for they hanged suspended<\/em>
\nAs we listened one last time an’ we watched with one last look<\/em>
\nSpellbound an’ swallowed ’til the tolling ended<\/em>
\nTolling for the aching ones whose wounds cannot be nursed<\/em>
\nFor countless confused, accused, misused, strung-out ones & worse<\/em>
\nAnd for every hung-up person in the whole wide universe<\/em>
\nAnd we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin’<\/em><\/p>\n