Freedom Bells
I was living and working in Nicaragua for OneWorld Health and I found Luna on the sun-baked, chaotic streets of Chinandega, when she was a fragile three-week-old pup barely clinging to life. From that very first day, it was clear she carried a wild, gypsy soul. She was a natural escape artist who treated the world as her playground; whether we were hiking trails or walking the beach, calling her back was an endless battle against her urge to run. She would vanish for hours, sometimes a full day, chasing a horizon only she could see—yet no matter how far she strayed, she always found her way back around. I lived with a quiet, heavy intuition that the streets would eventually claim her back, a premonition that tragically came true just after her first birthday. Sitting inside my house, the humid afternoon was shattered by a sudden, sharp scream as a large local transit bus roared past. By the time I reached the asphalt, she was taking her final, shallow breaths. She died right there in my arms. Closing her eyes and burying her in the Nicaraguan soil was a heartbreaking moment that hardened my heart just a little bit more, leaving behind a grief I could only begin to process by turning her wild memory into song.
Lyrics
Big Red Sun, behind my back
Don’t know where you are going, don’t know where you are at
Gypsy lies, streets of pain
You just can’t stop that pouring rain, you just can’t stop that runaway train
It’s in your blood, Freedom Bells
Its a sense not knowing no time to tell
Its a sense not knowing if it’s heaven or hell
Home, Home again
Time is unkind but I am sure glad we were friends
Home, Home again
Come back around from all those twists and bends
Red Blood Moon, lights the sky
I hear you scream I hear you cry
When we fall, we surely will
Will you be there to catch me and hold me still, will you be there to catch me and warm my chill
Lay you down, one last time
Rest your bones feel the light
Rest your bones and say goodbye
Home, Home again
Time is unkind but I am sure glad we were friends
Home, Home again
Come back around from all those twists and bends
Home, Home again
Time is unkind but I am sure glad we were friends
Home, Home again
Come back around from all those twists and bends
Behind The Metaphors
The imagery in "Freedom Bells" directly mirrors the chaotic beauty and ultimate tragedy of Luna’s wild spirit. When I sing of "gypsy lies" and the "runaway train," I am capturing that relentless, uncontrollable instinct she had to break free and run the Nicaraguan streets, an urge that felt as unstoppable as heavy rain. The phrase "Freedom Bells" symbolizes that untamed call to total liberty inherent in her blood—a reckless way of living where time doesn't exist and the line between heaven and hell blurs. The transition from the "Big Red Sun" to the stark "Red Blood Moon" marks the sudden shift from life to the haunting night I lost her, directly referencing the literal scream I heard from inside the house. Finally, the chorus acts as a bittersweet resolution; "all those twists and bends" celebrate her inevitable, loyal return home after her wild escapades, transforming a devastating goodbye into a declaration of gratitude for an unkind but deeply cherished friendship.