The bells
Music by Phil Ochs
Lyrics by Edgar Allen Poe
D G D
Hear the sledges with the bells, silver bells,
C D
what a world of merriment their melody foretells !
C Em A C Em A
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night,
C Em A C Em A
all the heavens seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight.
D Bm F#m A
Keeping time, time, time with a sort of runic rhyme,
D C D
from the tintinnabulation that so musically wells.
D G D A D G D
From the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells,
G A D
from the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
D G D
Hear the mellow wedding bells, golden bells,
C D
what a world of happiness their harmony foretells !
C Em A C Em A
Through the balmy air of night, how they ring out their delight,
C Em A C Em A
through the dances and the yells, and the rapture that impels.
D Bm F#m A
How it swells, how it dwells, on the future, how it tells,
D C D
from the swinging and the ringing of the molten golden bells.
D G D A D G D
Of the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells,
G A D
of the rhyming and the chiming of the bells.
[ Tab from: https://www.guitartabs.cc/tabs/p/phil_ochs/the_bells_crd.html ]
D G D
Hear the loud alarum bells, brazen bells,
C D
what a tale of terror now their turbulency tells !
C Em A C Em A
Much too horrified to speak, oh, they can only shriek,
C Em A C Em A
for all the ears to know, how the danger ebbs and flows.
D Bm F#m A
Leaping higher, higher, higher with a desperate desire,
D C D
in a clamorous appealing to the mercy of the fire.
D G D A D G D
With the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells,
G A D
with the clamor and the clanging of the bells.
D G D
Hear the tolling of the bells, iron bells,
C D
what a world of solemn thought their monody compels !
C Em A C Em A
For all the sound that floats, from the rust within our throats,
C Em A C Em A
and the people sit and groan in their muffled monotone.
D Bm F#m A
And the tolling, tolling, tolling feels a glory in the rolling,
D C D
from the throbbing and the sobbing of the melancholy bells.
D G D A D G D
Oh, the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells,
G A D
oh, the moaning and the groaning of the bells.
D G D
Hear the sledges with the bells, silver bells,
C D
what a world of merriment their melody foretells !
C Em A C Em A
How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle in the icy air of night,
C Em A C Em A
all the heavens seem to twinkle with a crystalline delight.
D Bm F#m A
Keeping time, time, time with a sort of runic rhyme,
D C D
from the tintinnabulation that so musically wells.
D G D A D G D
From the bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells,
G A D
from the jingling and the tinkling of the bells.
