Look at the world, it's waking up   I couldn't sleep for dreaming   My weary soul is finally home   I had the strangest feeling   This is the dawn, the break of day   After the midnight parted   These ringing ears have waited years   To hear the bells of Harlem      Far down the streets, I see the sign   The crowd is breathing faster   Some must have walked a hundred blocks   I see the flocks in pastures   Oh what a time to be alive   These are the pasts forgotten   It's been a long and lonely night   I hear the bells of Harlem      They ring, they ring, they sing, they sing   The darkest hour is passed   They ring, they ring, they sing, they sing   A little joy at long last   The darkest rose, ain't no more cane   We grind it down to sawdust   We couldn't stop the freedom train   I hear the bells of Harlem