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.

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.

I fight the tears since you've been gone
And I stand in fear, can I make it on my own
Without your love to guide me thru my life

It's so cold at night without you here
And those gentle arms that held me close and dear
Oh we're all the same, we all live and die

You'll always be in my heart, oh Mama don't you cry
You'll always live in my dreams, oh Mama don't you cry

Every night when I close my eyes
I see a light and shadows of your face
It's always there like an angel over me

So many frozen years hangin' on my wall
A thousand words, I can hear them call
Oh I tried so hard but I could never say goodbye

You'll always be in my heart, oh Mama don't you cry
You'll always live in my dreams, oh Mama don't you cry

No one can kiss away the pain like you
No one like Mama, no one like you

You'll always be in my heart, oh Mama don't you cry
You'll always live in my dreams, oh Mama don't you cry
(You'll always be in my heart, oh Mama don't you cry - don't you cry)
(You'll always live in my dreams) in my dreams (Oh Mama don't you cry)
Oh Mama don't you cry

Lets drink to the hard working people,
Lets drink to the lowly of birth.
Raise your glass to the good and the evil,
Lets drink to the salt of the earth.

Say a prayer for the common foot soldier,
Spare a thought for his back breaking work.
Say a prayer for his wife and his children,
Who burn the fires and who still till the earth.

And when I search a faceless crowd,
A swirling mass of gray and black and white.
They don't look real to me,
In fact, they look so strange.

Raise your glass to the hard working people,
Lets drink to the uncounted heads.
Lets think of the wandering millions,
Who need leaders but get gamblers instead.

Spare a thought for the stay at home voter,
His empty eyes gaze at strange beauty shows.
And a parade of the gray suited grafters,
A choice of cancer or polio.

And when I search a faceless crowd,
A swirling mass of gray and black and white.
They don't look real to me,
In fact, they look so strange.

Lets drink to the hard working people,
Lets think of the lowly of birth.
Spare a thought for the rag taggy people,
Sets drink to the salt of the earth.

Lets drink to the hard working people,
Lets drink to the salt of the earth.
Lets think of the two thousand million,
Lets think of the humble of birth.