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.