Songs That Changed the World--The Most Important Songs of the Rock Era: "The Times They Are A-Changin'" by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan laid down the gauntlet to the older generation with this song.  What became known as the Baby Boomer Generation realized they had strength in numbers and they were being called to power in this song.  The generation was different than any other in history, and not all in good ways.  How much did they really do for love and peace?  They fell for the almighty dollar, the very thing they detested in the love-ins and sit-ins of the 60's.

"The Times They Are A-Changin'"

by Bob Dylan

 

 

Words and Music by Bob Dylan




Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly agin'
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.