The Bells of San Blas

Song Meaning

The lyrics paint a picture of San Blas, a town where tradition and commerce intertwine, centered around the ringing of bells. A child, seemingly young, is tasked with this duty, calling others to religious symbols. This scene, captured in a photograph, marks the beginning of a procession, invoking a sense of ritual and history. The narrative then shifts to a lost lavender bead, a small detail that hints at a larger story of pride and lineage within the town. The imagery of a fifteen-year-old fitting into a church like a hand in a glove suggests a predetermined path or a rite of passage. The children chasing rice, acting without hesitation, underscores a community moving through life with ingrained, perhaps unexamined, customs. A figure named Sister Anastasia arrives, bridging the spiritual and the commercial. She teaches handcrafts, not just for art, but to sell to tourists, directly linking the town's traditions to economic survival and the feeding of its children. The detail of a snake caught in a beak, a recurring motif, might suggest a complex relationship between predator and prey, or perhaps a struggle for survival within the town's economy. Ultimately, the lyrics connect the handmade bells to a history of Spanish missions and a figure like Longfellow's ghost, implying a layered past. The contrast between rusted cannons and green bells suggests a shift from conflict to enduring tradition, yet the exchange of gold and land for beads points to a history of exploitation. The final lines, stating that children still sacrifice virgins though the altar is renamed, offer a stark, unsettling commentary on the persistence of ancient, perhaps darker, rituals beneath a veneer of change.