Phil Ochs – The Bells (Ukulele)

           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.