Ring Them Bells (Bob Dylan) Ring Them Bells, ye heathen, from the city that dreams, Ring Them Bells,fron the sanctuaries across 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, Saint Peter, where the four winds blow, Ring Them Bells with an iron hand for the people will know. Oh, its rush hour now On the wheel and the plow, And the sun is going down on 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's asleep where the willows weep, And the mountains they 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'll judge the many when the day is through. Ring them Bells for the time that flies, For the child that cries when the innocence dies. Ring Them Bells, Saint Catherine from the top of the room, Ring them Bells from the fortress for the lilies that bloom. For the lines they are long, And the fighting is strong, And they're breaking down the distance between right and wrong. ================ from a web forum ---------------- RE:Ring Them Bells I've thought about this quite a bit in the past what thirteen years since that interview, Dylan has far from endorsed a Jewish standpoint has taken something of what one might consider a detached Christian/theistic standpoint, although references both to the old and new testaments are as frequent in Oh Mercy and Under The Red sky as they were in previous religious albums. So what about Messianic complex? Well since his conversion of 1978 he's largely written and spoken of his deepest thought and meditations upon his spiritual life in terms that are in many ways (in my limited understanding) non Jewish, in that they are not collective statements of faith, they indicate personal salvation (rather than purely national) they also largely take up the more orthodox Christian view of the falleness of man and the world, the existence of personal evil in the form of the devil and the theology of original sin. We may want to get down to specifics later Consider: Ring Them Bells Ring Them Bells, ye heathen, from the city that dreams, Ring Them Bells,fron the sanctuaries across 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, Saint Peter, where the four winds blow, Ring Them Bells with an iron hand so the people will know. Oh, its rush hour now On the wheel and plow, And the sun is going down on 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 , Saint 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. Verse 1 lines 5-6the bride is most likely the church based on Matthew 9:15 and Revelation 19:7-9also Ephesians 5:25. However in the light of Bob's Jewish background and perspective it could also refer to The Marriage of God and Israel Hosea 2:19-20. Verse 2 line 1 Matthew 14:23-32 Verse 2 line 2 Mindful of Revelation 2:27 Verse 2 line 6 Exodus 32:4 Verse 3 Line 2 Possibly alluding to Dueteronomy 6-4 Verse 3 lines 3-5Ezekiel 34:6 also Matthew 18:12 John 10:11-14 Verse 4 line Matthew 11:2-6 Verse 4 lines 3-4Matthew 22:14 Revelation 17:14 Verse 4 line 1 Corinthians 6:2-3; Matthew 6:8 "Oh, the shepherd is asleep" I do not think is meant to allude to Christ, but to the hireling shepherd or the unfaithful shepherds of Israel perhaps the corrupt "church"..commentators, wrongly I feel , said it cited Dylan's impatience with God for not resolving and judging the wrong in the world; but wouldn't that go against the title Oh Mercy ? Interestingly it may hark back to I Want You with the line "The Saviours are fast asleep they wait for you". Also "The cracked bells and washed out horns..", the cracked bell here is probably The Liberty Bell.