The Times They Are A‐Changin' Lyrics

{c:The Bootleg Series version is the same as below, only played at
the piano, and with pianistic instead of guitaristic chords in the
descent at the end.
The Unplugged version is also the same as below, only with a
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
G C *) D G . . *) Not played in the first verse
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'.
'Cause 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 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'.
{c:There's a battle outside and it is ragin'.
It'll soon shake your windows}
Budokan version
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'.
Alternate studio version (Oct 1963)
{c:Released as a bonus track on the limited edition of “Love and Theft” (2001).
This version combines two well-known Dylan features, the G-G6-G7
figure and the high capo position, in a song that's usually played in
G.}
: . . : . . : . .
|-0-------0---|-0-----------| and |-0---0---0---|
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-chan - gin'.
G7 . . | G6 . . | F . . | G G6 G7 | (verses 2 and 4)
G7 . . | G6 . . | G(6) . . | G . . | (last verse; G6=322000, G(6)=320000)
{c:Lyrically the only change is that he sings “vibrate your walls”
instead of “rattle your walls” in the third verse.}
Live version from Drammenshallen, July 10, 1981
{c:This is a very special version, not only because it was on the first
bootleg I ever got, or because it was a one-off opener during that
tour, or because of the delightful error in the second verse, or
because it was played not far from where I stayed at the time (not
that I had the slightest idea, just a kid acting smart at the time) --
but for all these reasons taken together.}
Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
Admit that the waters
Around you have grown
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'.
G6/A Em7/A *) *) For these two chords, Dylan goes
For the loser now one fret too high...
Will be later to win
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'.
Get out of the new one
If you can't lend a hand
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
He that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside and it's ragin'
It will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
(Harmonica solo, while the band sneaks in)
The line it is drawn
And 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'.
(instrumental verse as above, this time with full band)