Bells of Morning

Tonight I am speechless
My head is filled with pouring rain
As the darkness falls on Montreal
When violence is shrieking
The city-streets will run with pain
'till the moon can shed no light at all

I believe that we have fallen
In the middle of an old highway
And the past is rolling over us
As men begin to understand what women say
They see history reaching out to smother all of us

So ring the bells of morning
For sorrow and for shame
And let the deep well inside each of us
Swell with outrage
Those of us who know what went before
Can come again, must ring the bells
The bells of morning

I met a man once, he held himself
Tighter than a fist
He was hard and fast in his inflexibility
He was threatened by the future
A product of the past
He was terrified by his own femininity

We must ring the bells of morning
We have everything to gain
May those of us who comprehend
Commit our lives to change
Though you swear that you can't let yourself
Be vulnerable again, ring the bells
The bells of morning

'coz if we can't face ourselves
We will never understand
We must learn to make a cradle
With these stubborn hands
We will feel the echoes
From this shattered land
If we ring the bells of morning

I met a woman once, she told me she was
Scared that we might never see the day
When the violence was overcome
She said silence is the fuel
Of fear and ignorance, the roaring flame
That burns the freedom out of everyone

She said ring the bells of morning
Let none of us pretend
'coz if you walk the path of silence
You might never reach the end
Those of us who know what went before
Can come again, must ring the bells
The bells of morning

So ring the bells of morning
Ring them loud and ring them strong
Let the mother-tongue of strength
Be the peaceful language of this song
Let those ancient voices lead us all
Into the dawn, ring the bells
The bells of morning

Ring the bells, the bells of morning
Ring the bells, ring the bells of morning