WHEN in the course of human Events, it becomes necessary….
Boomer Anthems: Chimes of Freedom by Dylan
byVanderleunonAugust 29, 2020
Through the mad mystic hammering of the wild ripping hail The sky cracked its poems in naked wonder That the clinging of the church bells blew far into the breeze Leaving only bells of lightning and its thunder
A great song containing a great poem and prayer
— and not just for 1964 when it was written and not just for this era and this nation but for all times and all nations and all people.***
My generation from which this song emerged?
Well, we had some nice ideals.
Nowadays, not so much.
Time to be great again.
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 clinging 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 unpawned painter behind beyond his rightful time An’ we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashing
Through the wild cathedral evening the rain unraveled tales For the disrobed faceless forms of no position Tolling for the tongues with no place to bring their thoughts All down in taken-for-granted situations Tolling for the deaf an’ blind, tolling for the mute Tolling for the mistreated, mateless mother, the mistitled prostitute For the misdemeanor outlaw, chased an’ cheated by pursuit 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 unharmful, 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
Too bad Springsteen’s songs, although sounding patriotic, are just liberal diatribes against the American way of life.
VanderleunAugust 29, 2020, 4:54 PM
This is not Springsteen’s song. It’s Dylan. Still, I take your point about Springsteen and his bad-Americanism. Dylan’s current politics are obscure but in general with showbiz types “obscure” means “tilts conservative.”
The song first broke the charts with the Byrds’ version but those videos either have inadequate sound tracks or bad/no visuals. I try to include only visuals of songs that have something visual going on. Some of the imagry embedded in this version I no longer fancy, but on the whole the video itself is worth watching as well as listening to.
MIKE GUENTHERAugust 29, 2020, 7:55 PM
I guess if I had actually read the lyrics instead of just listening to the song, I would have realized that it was more Dylanesque than Springsteen. Not to impugn Springsteen’s writing ability because many other musicians covered some of his songs.
mharkoAugust 30, 2020, 9:19 AM
Love the song, but cannot stand Springsteen or bear to hear his voice. Ruins it totally for me.
i’ll just stay with Dylan’s, Plenty of visuals in the lyrics alone.
ckAugust 30, 2020, 10:53 AM
Yeah, that’s my music, not that Crosby trash.
Auntie AnalogueAugust 30, 2020, 11:36 AM
My dear mharko, it’s a delight to come across a kindred soul: like you, I could never stand Springsteen or his voice – the latter grates on my last nerve. As I was born and grew up in New Jersey, from my old New Jersey friends I take a lot of heat for my distaste for Springsteen, but that’s a heat I bask in and tolerate with impish good humor.
I love to play & sing “Chimes Of Freedom,” but in the condensed three-verse version popularized by The Byrds, which I prefer because those three verses distill the song to its essence (and on their track I’ve also always loved The Byrds’ lovely harmony and the silvery tintinnabulation of that twelve-string rhythm guitar). That track is not the only cover of a Dylan number that I prefer to Dylan’s original.
JackAugust 30, 2020, 1:40 PM
I took the bait and began to play the vid but it wasn’t Bob who wailing, but Sprinsteen, a yankee piece of shit if God ever made one. So I quickly shut it down. Truly, I wouldn’t piss on that guy if his face was on fire.
VanderleunAugust 30, 2020, 3:31 PM
What can I say except one needs to always differentiate between the song and the singer.
bruceAugust 30, 2020, 5:18 PM
I wanted to enter into the spirit of this, but I don’t think it was produced by Boomers or one of our anthems. I barely knew the song existed until the Youtube era, and I’ve been listening to Dylan songs for over 50 years. I suspect it’s something he wrote to please Pete Seeger and co. Dylan, like Paul Simon, was really a frustrated rock and roller, although some of their folk songs are lovely, and moving, even timeless (Sound of Silence, Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall…).
The 1930s-1945 so-called ‘silent generation’ don’t get enough credit for having led and prettty much created the 1960s on impressionable young minds, which is what we Boomers actually were. For example I see a previous song was Hurdy Gurdy Man, interesting as a paraphrase of Schubert’s ‘Leierman’ from Winterreise, but did you know Donovan’s song is really about the Maharishi Mahesh? Now that was an evil cult leader who again had too much influence on impressionable young Boomers, because we trusted older folks who sold him to us.
bruceAugust 30, 2020, 5:35 PM
On the positive side, if it was one of the songs Patti Smith sang on her album ’12’ I’d be all for it. Such as her version of Dylan’s later song Changing of the Guards which I’ve always loved in Dylan’s and now her singing. We belong to the blank generation my friend.
The Byrds covered this great song, too, as I’m sure you know. And if you like its epic feel, you’ll also like Chris Hillman’s version of Bells of Rhymney, off the 2017 solo album “Bidin’ My Time,” which was produced by the late great Tom Petty: https://youtu.be/XaMOX7rH3Zo
VanderleunAugust 31, 2020, 9:30 AM
Patrick, you’ve hit on my favorite Byrds’ song/cover…. for the harmonies sure but also for the amazing bridge.
mharkoAugust 31, 2020, 12:41 PM
Dear Auntie,
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. We are kindred. I’ve always appreciated the Byrds too, and their descendants and emulators. They (McGuinn, really) were my intro to Bob, after all. My high school garage band was centered on a 12-string Rickenbacker.
Gerard, yes, we will continue to discriminate b/w song and singer. I always appreciate your site….on my regular playlist.
Real World Address for Donations, Mash Notes and Hate Mail
Gerard Van der Leun
1692 MANGROVE AVE
APT 379
Chico, Ca 95926
Green Pants Interior by Klahn
Who Am I? by Carl Sandburg
My head knocks against the stars.
My feet are on the hilltops.
My finger-tips are in the valleys and shores of universal life.
Down in the sounding foam of primal things I reach my hands and play with pebbles of destiny.
I have been to hell and back many times.
I know all about heaven, for I have talked with God.
I dabble in the blood and guts of the terrible.
I know the passionate seizure of beauty
And the marvelous rebellion of man at all signs reading “Keep Off.”
My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
Duty, Beauty, Liberty, Country, Honor, Family, Faith — Plus a few simple easy to follow rules for guys
Men saw the stars at the edge of the sea
They thought great thoughts about liberty
Poets wrote down words that did fit
Writers wrote books
Thinkers thought about it
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
Many’s the road I have walked upon
Many’s the hour between dusk and dawn
Many’s the time
Many’s the mile
I see it all now
Through the eyes of a child
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
Lost dreams and found dreams
In America
In America
In America
And close your eyes
Leave it all for a while
Leave the world
And your worries behind
You will build on whatever is real
And wake up each day
To a new waking dream
Take it where you find it
Can’t leave it alone
You will find a purpose
To carry it on
Mainly when you find it
Your heart will be strong
About it
[Chorus]
Change, change come over
Change come over
Talkin’ about a change
Change, change
Change come over, now
Change, change, change come over
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I’m gonna walk down the street
Until I see
My shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
I see my light
See my light
See my shining light
Gerard Van der Leun
Comments on this entry are closed.
Too bad Springsteen’s songs, although sounding patriotic, are just liberal diatribes against the American way of life.
This is not Springsteen’s song. It’s Dylan. Still, I take your point about Springsteen and his bad-Americanism. Dylan’s current politics are obscure but in general with showbiz types “obscure” means “tilts conservative.”
The song first broke the charts with the Byrds’ version but those videos either have inadequate sound tracks or bad/no visuals. I try to include only visuals of songs that have something visual going on. Some of the imagry embedded in this version I no longer fancy, but on the whole the video itself is worth watching as well as listening to.
I guess if I had actually read the lyrics instead of just listening to the song, I would have realized that it was more Dylanesque than Springsteen. Not to impugn Springsteen’s writing ability because many other musicians covered some of his songs.
Love the song, but cannot stand Springsteen or bear to hear his voice. Ruins it totally for me.
i’ll just stay with Dylan’s, Plenty of visuals in the lyrics alone.
Yeah, that’s my music, not that Crosby trash.
My dear mharko, it’s a delight to come across a kindred soul: like you, I could never stand Springsteen or his voice – the latter grates on my last nerve. As I was born and grew up in New Jersey, from my old New Jersey friends I take a lot of heat for my distaste for Springsteen, but that’s a heat I bask in and tolerate with impish good humor.
I love to play & sing “Chimes Of Freedom,” but in the condensed three-verse version popularized by The Byrds, which I prefer because those three verses distill the song to its essence (and on their track I’ve also always loved The Byrds’ lovely harmony and the silvery tintinnabulation of that twelve-string rhythm guitar). That track is not the only cover of a Dylan number that I prefer to Dylan’s original.
I took the bait and began to play the vid but it wasn’t Bob who wailing, but Sprinsteen, a yankee piece of shit if God ever made one. So I quickly shut it down. Truly, I wouldn’t piss on that guy if his face was on fire.
What can I say except one needs to always differentiate between the song and the singer.
I wanted to enter into the spirit of this, but I don’t think it was produced by Boomers or one of our anthems. I barely knew the song existed until the Youtube era, and I’ve been listening to Dylan songs for over 50 years. I suspect it’s something he wrote to please Pete Seeger and co. Dylan, like Paul Simon, was really a frustrated rock and roller, although some of their folk songs are lovely, and moving, even timeless (Sound of Silence, Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall…).
The 1930s-1945 so-called ‘silent generation’ don’t get enough credit for having led and prettty much created the 1960s on impressionable young minds, which is what we Boomers actually were. For example I see a previous song was Hurdy Gurdy Man, interesting as a paraphrase of Schubert’s ‘Leierman’ from Winterreise, but did you know Donovan’s song is really about the Maharishi Mahesh? Now that was an evil cult leader who again had too much influence on impressionable young Boomers, because we trusted older folks who sold him to us.
On the positive side, if it was one of the songs Patti Smith sang on her album ’12’ I’d be all for it. Such as her version of Dylan’s later song Changing of the Guards which I’ve always loved in Dylan’s and now her singing. We belong to the blank generation my friend.
The Byrds covered this great song, too, as I’m sure you know. And if you like its epic feel, you’ll also like Chris Hillman’s version of Bells of Rhymney, off the 2017 solo album “Bidin’ My Time,” which was produced by the late great Tom Petty:
https://youtu.be/XaMOX7rH3Zo
Patrick, you’ve hit on my favorite Byrds’ song/cover…. for the harmonies sure but also for the amazing bridge.
Dear Auntie,
Thank you for your kind words of encouragement. We are kindred. I’ve always appreciated the Byrds too, and their descendants and emulators. They (McGuinn, really) were my intro to Bob, after all. My high school garage band was centered on a 12-string Rickenbacker.
Gerard, yes, we will continue to discriminate b/w song and singer. I always appreciate your site….on my regular playlist.