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The Times They Are A-Changin' Lyrics

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, congressman
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he who 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
You 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'.
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66 Meanings

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Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

This is a timeless song. Because the only constant is change. (sorry to use a corny volcom slogan but it's true)

@schoolofspool yes, sometimes it can get tired hearing cliches, especially when people say them as if they just invented them - I do not mean you, I’m not here to troll…not now anyway lol - BUT, they only get to become “cliches” because they’re pretty much true, at least most of the time…

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

You can say that Texas and Minnesota are both part of United States. But I refuse to believe that George W Bush and Bob Dylan are from the same country. CNN should play "With God On Our Side" every twenty minutes. We'll have to wait four more years for the President of the US stop being an embarassment. A shame.

Who's an embarrassment now?

Not Valid

The embarrassment now is John Boehner and the stone wall congress!! Dylan always gives us hope!

Not Valid

@krism48 Ha ha, I’ve just read your comment, years old by now, but I just saw A news item about a week ago that mentioned Boehner and his fuckin crying jags whenever someone would show him a ???????? or sing the StSpBa, the commentator - was it John Oliver? - said how PHONY the whole thing was, Boeher was always, AT ALL TIMES, either in the process of pouring alcohol into his body or, recovering from a loooong night (remember the old saying, “I spent a month in there one night”?!?), so of course he was always fuckin SAD, alcohol...

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

I think this song is the most important and iconic song ever written.

@Tig45 What about The Sound/Sounds Of Silence .... :)

@Tig45 The Nobel Prize committee confirms this ascertion.

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

I can't believe I'd ever feel the need to express this in relation to a Bob Dylan song, but this is a website for song MEANINGS, so it would probably be best for everyone if personal political views were excluded. Bush bashing is a magnet for idiots who like to defend our elected enemy. I also like to just laugh and smile when people don't appreciate the original artists, and prefer covers. If they can't see the beauty in Dylan, then that's their loss. Anyways. About the song. In my opinion, the first verse is an allusion to a flood, something that is not strictly a biblical reference (seeing as Dylan was, as Freewheelin pointed out, Jewish when he wrote this song) but also an archetype that is used by almost every religion on earth. Dylan persists that we get with it with the lines "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'."

The second verse warns the authors, journalists, artists, etc of the time to watch for change, observe it, and record it. He talks of sudden twists of fate, unexpected victories.

Verse three screams Vietnam to me. Dylan is telling our politicians to stop closing their eyes to the fact that Vietnam is real, people are getting killed, and it will soon hit closer to home than comfortable. He is asking them to take action.

4 seems to be asking people to stop a-bitchin'. Their children are out in the world, and they can't control them anymore. They need to let go of old fears and prejudices and get with the times.

5 sums it up. Live in the now, change your ways, accept the past but look forward.

K... these are my opinions. Don't bash 'em. Disagree all you want, but don't turn this into some kind of personal war.

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

I love this song. I don't think any other version could be better.

And I personally connect this song to today - the fight against same-sex marriage. Your old road is rapidly aging, bigots. But that's just me.

Wonderful song.

I can't agree more =D. Its nice to see someone that thinks like I do Bob Dylan gives his songs justic. That is why they are his songs =P

Not Valid

exactly what i was thinking!

Not Valid
Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

Umm, that's Eddie VEDDER. And don't criticize What you can't understand. End of Discussion.

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

Yes, Bush will protect you. Just follow him blindly. And in the meantime, check out the song Pet by A Perfect Circle. And if you can, go to their site and watch the video "Counting Bodies". It is very educational.

This is a good song indeed. Revolution is coming.

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

he's not saying you have to get along with everyone just dont fucking bomb everyone who looks at you wrong

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

This song is so wonderful. One of Dylan's best (not that I'm particulary knowledgable about Dylan's songs, but this one is amazing anyhow). I love how it's so simple, but still so strong.

And I also love that they used this song for the opening title of Watchmen. It's perfect. And I also love that they used the original version and didn't lete anybody cover it. It's simply perfect and give me goosebumps every damn time!

I love the "come mothers and fathers" verse. It describes the way I'm feeling right now, as I just turned 18, very well. "Don't critisize what you can't understand, your sons and daughters are beyond your comand, your road is rapidly aging, please get out of the new one if you cant lend a hand"

It's definitivly about change, in any shape or form I think. I think this song is pretty open to very indivdual interpretation. People's lives will dictate what they think it's about, which is great. I love songs that can mean a million different things to a million different people.

Cover art for The Times They Are A-Changin' lyrics by Bob Dylan

I know it's been a big joke ever since he started that Dylan can't sing, but honestly it's his unique voice that makes his so great, in my opinion. Voice is obviously a big factor in what makes us like a particular artist/song (like, other than Daughtry sucking ass in general, his voice makes me convulse and start vomiting), and I think Dylan is an incredible singer just BECAUSE it's unorthodox.

@Christa426 Yeah! Just like Johnny Cash and Willy Nelson. LOL