[1] The work was inspired by a local coal mining disaster and by the failure of the 1926 General Strike, with the "Bells of Rhymney" stanzas following the pattern of the nursery rhyme "Oranges and Lemons".
[1][2] In addition to Rhymney, the poem also refers to the bells of a number of other places in South Wales, including Merthyr, Rhondda, Blaina, Caerphilly, Neath, Swansea, Newport, Cardiff, and the Wye Valley.
[2][7] At the time of recording, the song was a relative newcomer to the Byrds' repertoire, having first been performed during the band's March 1965, pre-fame residency at Ciro's nightclub on the Sunset Strip in Los Angeles.
[8] Author Chris Smith has made mention of the presence of a number of the Byrds' early musical trademarks in their recording of "The Bells of Rhymney", including their complex harmony singing and McGuinn's jangly twelve-string Rickenbacker guitar playing.
Other artists who have recorded the song include: Judy Collins, the Serendipity Singers, the Alarm, the Ian Campbell Folk Group, Murray Head, John Denver, Weddings Parties Anything, Tommy Makem, Jim Hendricks, Fifth Avenue, Robyn Hitchcock, Beck and Jakob Dylan, Oysterband, Ralph McTell and Chris Hillman.