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[Intro] |
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We'll do a song then about revolution |
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A song of what's been true of all revolutions |
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From the beginning, the French, the American |
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This is a fictional song, a cinematic song |
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You've got to picture this mansion |
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On the top of a hill, housing the last of the idle rich |
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The last of the bourgeois, the last of the folk singers |
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As they are being encircled tighter and tighter by the Ringing of Revolution |
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All the people on the inside spiritually resemble Charles Laughton |
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And all the people on the outside physically resemble Lee Marvin |
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As a matter of fact, this song is so cinematic |
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That it's been made into a movie directed by Otto Preminger |
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It stars Senator Carl Hayden as Ho Chi Minh |
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Frank Sinatra plays Fidel Castro |
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Ronald Reagan plays George Murphy |
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John Wayne plays Lyndon Johnson |
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And Lyndon Johnson plays God |
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I play Bobby Dylan, a young Bobby Dylan |
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[Verse 1] |
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In a building of gold, with riches untold |
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Lived the families on which the country was founded |
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And the merchants of style, with their vain velvet smiles |
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Were there, for they also were hounded |
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And the soft middle class crowded into the last |
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For the building was fully surrounded |
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And the noise outside was the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 2] |
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Sadly they stared and sank in their chairs |
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And searched for a comforting notion |
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And the rich silver walls looked ready to fall |
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As they shook in doubtful devotion |
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The ice cubes would clink as they freshened their drinks |
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Wet their minds in bitter emotion |
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And they talked about the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 3] |
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We were hardly aware of the hardships they beared |
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For our time was taken with treasure |
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Oh, life was a game, and work was a shame |
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And pain was prevented by pleasure |
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The world, cold and grey, was so far away |
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In the distance only money could measure |
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But their thoughts were broken by the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 4] |
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And the clouds filled the room in darkening doom |
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As the crooked smoke rings were rising |
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How long will it take, how can we escape |
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Someone asks, but no one's advising |
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And the quivering floor responds to the roar |
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In a shake no longer surprising |
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As closer and closer comes the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 5] |
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So softly they moan, please leave us alone |
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As back and forth they are pacing |
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And they cover their ears and try not to hear |
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With pillows of silk they're embracing |
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The crackling crowd is laughing out loud |
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Peeking in at the target they're chasing |
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Now trembling inside the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 6] |
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With compromise sway we gave in half way |
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When we saw that rebellion was growing |
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Now everything's lost as they kneel by the cross |
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Where the blood of Christ is still flowing |
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Too late for their sorrow they've reached their tomorrow |
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And reaped the seed they were sowing |
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Now harvested by the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 7] |
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In tattered tuxedos they faced the new heroes |
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And crawled about in confusion |
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And they sheepishly grinned for their memories were dim |
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Of the decades of dark execution |
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Hollow hands raised, they stood there amazed |
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In the shattering of their illusions |
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As the windows were smashed by the ringing of revolution |
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[Verse 8] |
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Down on our knees we're begging you please |
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We're sorry for the way you were driven |
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There's no need to taunt, just take what you want |
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And we'll make amends, if we're living |
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But away from the grounds the flames told the town |
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That only the dead are forgiven |
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As they vanished inside the ringing of revolution |
