"Memphis"

I'd long suspected that the line "Changing my life with its freedom ring" in "Memphis" contained an allusion to something, and I finally placed it.  Ultimately, it seems to refer to the last line of the first stanza of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee":

My country, 'tis of thee,

Sweet land of liberty,

Of thee I sing;

Land where my fathers died,

Land of the pilgrims' pride,

From every mountainside

Let freedom ring.

"Memphis"

Last month I listened to As Far As I Can See, and I noticed something about "Memphis" that should have been obvious much earlier.  Although the phrase has acquired a larger application, "trace the writing on the wall" refers to a story in the Bible.  In Daniel 5, a hand literally writes on a wall, and Daniel interprets it.