Bob Dylan

Released: January 13, 1964

Songwriter: Bob Dylan

Producer: Tom Wilson (producer)

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 saving
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
The battle outside ragin'
Will 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 aging
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 fading
And the first one now will later be last
For the times, they are a-changin'

Bob Dylan (born Robert Zimmerman May 24, 1941), is an American singer-songwriter, writer, and artist who has influenced popular music and culture for more than five decades. Dylan has especially played a critical role in the American folk music revival.

Dylan’s songs are built from myriad political, social, philosophical and literary influences. Many of his anti-war and civil-rights-influenced songs set social unrest, as journalists widely named him the “spokesman for his generation” in the 1960s.

The musician has a signature change in voice and style in many different albums of his throughout the decades. He has notably explored and experimented with the genres of folk, rap, blues, and rock.

more tracks from the album

The Essential Bob Dylan

From the albums

The Times They Are A-Changin’ (1964)
Bob Dylan’s Greatest Hits (1967)
Biograph (1985)
The Bootleg Series Volumes 1–3 (Rare & Unreleased) 1961–1991 (1991)
The Essential Bob Dylan (2000)
The Bootleg Series Vol. 6: Bob Dylan Live 1964, Concert at Philharmonic Hall (2004)
Watchmen: Music from the Motion Picture (2009)
The Bootleg Series, Vol. 9: The Witmark Demos: 1962-1964 (2010)

Bob Dylan popular songs

The Times They Are A-Changin’Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan

The Essential Bob Dylan