The Bells ukulele

The Bells

• D

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.


          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.

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