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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
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
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, 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
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
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
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, 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
Lyrics submitted by Mellow_Harsher
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Sufjan is really into this kind of philosophy/world view, which is why he would have chosen to cover it. The way he mixes the sound of the music in the song, stylistically, with a kind of a folk rock mellowness and a grandiose orchestration also adds to the paradoxical meaning of the song.
it's more interesting if nothing else.
i'm curious as to why he chose to cover this song, though?