Ring Them Bells

Freedom's in the air surrounding my life this year. So close I can taste it, although I'm not always experiencing it.  The reminders are there, the promise of what's coming is clear.

My dad's a huge Bob Dylan fan, always has been.  I grew up listening to Dylan's albums, bootlegs, and got to experience a few concerts when I was in my teens.  This year "two iconic forces that have impacted the past 50 years -- the life-saving human rights activism of Nobel Peace Prize-winning Amnesty International and the incomparable artistry of Bob Dylan -- are being saluted by musicians who contributed new or previously unreleased recordings to Chimes of Freedom: The Songs of Bob Dylan, Honoring 50 Years of Amnesty International.

I love Bob Dylan, his voice, lyrics and music, and was thrilled my dad gave me his copy of Chimes of Freedom after he listened through the four CDs.  He's a bigger fan of Dylan's voice and song interpretations, so while he appreciated the covers on Chimes, he's not likely to listen over and over again.  I'm a fan of Dylan's interpretations and style too, but I must say that the way some of the songs are covered, especially by mega-talented female vocalists, is a breath of fresh air.  Check this out:

"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"

As I pursue freedom this year, and freedom in turn pursues me, I am catching glimpes of what freedom fighters do to bring freedom into the world.  My son and I read Moses: When Harriet Tubman Led Her People to Freedom (Caldecott Honor Book) recently and I wrote down a number of the words I read into my Freedom Journal.  "I will show others the way to freedom that You have shown me," for example.  

I visited the Amnesty International website and signed up to receive emails.  I clicked the box to "Join Rights Journey", in which all the actions I take become 'steps' on the Rights Journey. My steps will added to those of other activists all over the world who are heading for the same destination.  I am interested to see where this leads.  There even this Toast to Freedom, a song dedicated to human rights and activism around the world, and contributed to by nearly 50 artists.

 

Here's Melanie, singing her "Ring the Living Bell."  I listened to her albums over and over during my high school and early college/young adult years, so her songs are ingrained in me too, and this song fits here.

"I want to sing to help the light
Descend on the earth today
Because it's gonna get dark tonight
Sing the light, ah
Sing the living light
Still feel weak, but God,
I want to give and shine the living light
Still feel weak, but God,
I want to give and shine the living light"

Freedom, let it ring, in me.