Released: September 18, 1989
Songwriter: Bob Dylan
Producer: Daniel Lanois
[Verse 1]
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
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
[Verse 2]
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
[Verse 3]
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
[Verse 4]
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
[Verse 5]
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
The Bootleg Series Vol. 8: Tell Tale Signs: Rare and Unreleased 1989–2006
- Mississippi
- The Girl on the Greenbriar Shore (live)
- Mary and the Soldier
- Miss the Mississippi
- High Water (For Charley Patton)
- Mississippi (Alternate Version #3)
- Can’t Escape from You
- ’Cross the Green Mountain
- Duncan and Brady
- Cocaine Blues
- 32-20 Blues
- Can’t Wait (Alternate version #2)
- Marchin’ to the City (Unreleased version #2)
- Born in Time (Unreleased version #2)
- Red River Shore (Unreleased version #2)
- Most of the Time (Alternate version)
- Dignity (Piano Demo)
- Tell Ol’ Bill (Alternate Version, North Country Soundtrack)
- The Lonesome River
- Marchin’ to the City
- Mississippi (version #2)
- Love Sick
- Series of Dreams
- God Knows
- Born in Time
- Most of the Time
- Ring Them Bells
- Everything Is Broken
- Dignity
- Tryin’ to Get to Heaven
- Cold Irons Bound
- Red River Shore
- Huck’s Tune
- Dreamin’ of You
- Ain’t Talkin’
- Someday Baby
- Things Have Changed
- Lonesome Day Blues
- Can’t Wait
- Mississippi (Outtake)
- Murder Most Foul
- Blowin’ in the Wind
- The Times They Are A-Changin’
- All Along the Watchtower
- Like a Rolling Stone
- Make You Feel My Love
- Hurricane
- Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Right
- Mr. Tambourine Man
- A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall
- Subterranean Homesick Blues
- Desolation Row
- Tangled Up in Blue
- Masters of War
- Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door
- It’s Alright, Ma (I’m Only Bleeding)
- Girl from the North Country
- Tempest
- It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue
- Ballad of a Thin Man
- Visions of Johanna
- I Contain Multitudes
- To Fall in Love with You
- Shelter from the Storm