Record

The Four-Seventeen Bell

A night watchman rebuilds a church bell from scrap to hear one perfect note at sunrise, then goes back to his rounds.

Crooner tender, smoky, quietly hopeful English

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Lyrics

I carry a brass gear in my coat,
worn smooth as a river stone.
I was a foreman on the line,
and a foreman builds things alone.

So I am building one true bell
from a sewing machine and a prayer.
When the sun comes up on this empty square,
it will ring, and I will be there.

Each night I climb the clocktower stairs
with springs from a broken Singer.
I wire them to the old bell works,
then I bend the gear home with pliers.

So I am building one true bell
from a sewing machine and a prayer.
When the sun comes up on this empty square,
it will ring, and I will be there.

At dawn the bell gave one clear note,
and I smiled alone in the empty square.

So I am building one true bell
from a sewing machine and a prayer.
When the sun comes up on this empty square,
it will ring, and I will be there.