Lyrics to
The Bells

This version of The Bells was released by Lou Reed in 1979.

Our About Lou Reed page at Decade Lyrics includes the lyrics for The Bells from 1979 as well as all of the other lyrics from Lou Reed that we have in our lyrics database.

Here's more interesting things in songs and lyrics tied to Lou Reed or about the 1970s in general.

And the actresses relate
to the actor who comes home late
after the plays have gone down
and the crowds have scattered around
Though the city lights and the streets
no ticket could be beat
for the beautiful show of shows
ah, Broadway only knows
The great white Milky Way
it had something to say
when he fell down on his knees
after soaring through the air
With nothing to hold him there
it was really not so cute
to play without a parachute
as he stood upon the ledge
Looking out, he thought he saw a brook

And he hollered, Look, there are the bells
and he sang out, Here come the bells
Here come the bells, here come the bells
here come the bells

Here come the bells
here come the bells
Here come the bells
here come the bells

---

Want more lyrics and songs by Lou Reed?

Lou Reed has released many songs over the years besides The Bells. Lou Reed released songs from 1972 to 2000 spanning across albums like Transformer, Lou Reed, Berlin, Sally Can't Dance, Rock 'n' Roll Animal, Coney Island Baby, Rock And Roll Heart, Street Hassle, The Bells, Growing Up In Public, The Blue Mask, Legendary Hearts, New Sensations, Mistrial, New York, Magic And Loss, Set The Twilight Reeling, and Ecstasy. Decade Lyrics has over lyrics & songs by Lou Reed.

If you're a fan of 1970s songs looking for more songs from 1979 or the 1970s overall, you've come to the right place!

About Lyrics and The Bells by Lou Reed

The lyrics to The Bells are just the words, phrases, verses and chorus that Lou Reed used when the song was created in 1979. The lyrics to The Bells have both easy-to-spot meanings and hidden metaphors that have been discussed by the music press and fans, but only Lou Reed and any collaborators know all of the inspirations for the song.

If you like etymology or breaking apart phrases and words, it is easy to understand the lyrics to The Bells by Lou Reed. The word "lyric" itself derives from the Latin word lyricus, with the actual English word lyrics applied to the definition "words set to music" listed in Stainer and Barrett's 1876 Dictionary of Musical Terms. Continuing the chain, the Latin word lyricus derives from the Greek word λυρικός or lyrikós. This somewhat means "poetry accompanied by the lyre" or "words set to music." You can easily see that by looking at the background of the word lyric, that the "lyrics to The Bells" means the words set to the music of The Bells, or poetry accompanied by the lyre played by Lou Reed. The singular form "lyric" is still used to mean the complete words to a song. However, the singular form lyric is also commonly used to refer to a specific line (or phrase) within a song's lyrics. Hence, by this analysis of word structure, you could say that the lyric to The Bells and the lyrics to The Bells are both one and the same thing. None of this talk about the word Lyrics is really relevant to fans of Lou Reed who came here looking just for the lyrics to The Bells, but we feel it is still fun to learn what's behind commonly used words and lyrics in songs.

More Songs & Lyrics by Lou Reed

Visit our Lou Reed profile for more Lou Reed songs, lyrics & info!

)