The Times They Are A Changin’ by Bob Dylan

"The Times They Are A Changin’" lyrics

In 1964, a 23-year-old singer from Duluth Minnesota released his third studio album and called out to the world that change was here. Bob Dylan was able to encapsulate the feelings of urgency, unrest and frustration of a generation not with anger but with honesty.

“The Time They Are A Chagin’” from the album of the same name became an anthem for a generation. It pulled together the folk music movement of the 1960s with the Civil Rights movement. There is a long history of American folk music speaking about the struggles of people and artists like Joan Baez along with Dylan brought that tradition to the forefront of music in the 1960s, reminding America not only of the tradition of American folk music but the power of the genre to impact society.

Critics credit Dylan with many things. In a recent issue of Rolling Stone, Bob Dylan ranked number seven in their list of the 100 greatest singers. While, I don’t necessarily agree with this ranking, his influence on music is undeniable. In Rolling Stone’s list different artist wrote about why the singers were ranked as they were. Bono explained that without Dylan, we would not have singers who sung with a cracked voice including Kurt Cobain, Eddie Veder and Bruce Springsteen.

While the influence of Dylan’s singing is debatable, the voice of Dylan at 23-years-old is truly remarkable. Sam Cooke explained that because of Dylan, singing is “no longer going to be about how pretty the voice is. It’s going to be about believing that the voice is telling the truth.”

Artists create their work within limitations. Paintings have frames and films can’t reach out and physically touch the audience. Great artist acknowledge their limitations and work around and within them, which is the central to what it means to be creative. Dylan does not have an expansive range in his voice, nor does sing with a fantastic tone. However, the songs that Dylan writes that he sings don’t require either of those things.

The melody in “The Time They Are A Chagin’” is made up of a five notes in amajor scale. Most of the melody features repeated notes, with slight rises and drops. The rhythm is close the way most people would speak the lyrics. In some ways, this seems like easy way out and if you think of it compared to more expansive and dynamic melodies, “The Time They Are A Chagin’” seems silly and almost stupidly simple. However if you look at this melody in the tradition of great folk songs like “This Land is Your Land” the artistic choices Dylan makes become clear. Simple melodies are easier for people to sing. Rhythms that match the way people speak are easier to understand and a singer with a voice that sounds like a person you may actually see on the street as opposed to an opera start makes the song not only sound for relevant, but also more accessible.

He starts in the first verse calling out to the whole population talking about how change is an inevitable part of nature. Dylan says that change may not have a good effect on you (“drenched to the bone”) but it is coming and it needs to be recognized. This may seem like a pessimistic view of the future but he speaking more to people who by not acknowledging the coming change are setting themselves up for hardship.

In the second verse, Dylan is more specific calling out to people who write. He explains that their predictions may not necessarily be true. Dylan invalidates their jobs saying that they can no longer predict the future. These writings are out of touch because on a fundamental basis the world has changed beyond what these writers can understand.

Dylan gets political in the third verse and tells politicians how a war is coming. If they don’t change and start moving, they will get run over. Dylan talks about how change necessitates action. This may not seem like a big deal to call out politicians but in a time when it was rare for pop music to even acknowledging that politicians existed, criticizing them was a shocking and unheard of. That doesn’t mean that people weren’t thinking it, Dylan just helped people admit to themselves the truth of the situation.

I’ll always remember when I first listened to this song and heard the opening of the fourth verse, “Come mothers and fathers throughout the land and don't criticize what you can't understand.” At first my jaw dropped, and then I celebrated in my mind thinking ”PREACH ON BROTHER!!!” As a teenager I felt I was misunderstood. I know that it’s human nature to criticize what you don’t understand but that doesn’t mean you should. At school, no one got how into music I was and people constantly seemed to criticize the choices I made in my life.

Dylan was right on that we shouldn’t criticize what we don’t understand. Wait a second, not “don’t understands” but “can’t understand.” No one can truly understand what you are feeling and no parent can completely understand what his or her child is going through. That doesn’t mean you can’t help make situations better but it does mean that we have to acknowledge the uniqueness of people’s feelings and situations which raises the level of relationships from a authoritative parental figure to a mentor who can truly help a child improve his or her life.

The last verse talks about what the result of all this change will bring. Slow will be fast, present will be past, and first will be last. The world will flip over and things that you assume to be true will be false. It is scary to think how correct Dylan. The changes in the past forty years are astounding and the world changed dramatically not only the way we view others but the way we view ourselves.

The power in protest music isn’t to change people’s minds. Do you think that a tyrannical parent is going to listen to “The Time They Are A Chagin’” and decide to give their child independence? Chances are, especially in the 1960s you couldn’t even get the parent to even listen to the song let alone be convinced by its message. What protest music does is validate people’s feeling and help them find others who feel the same way. In the 1960s, Dylan said what many were feeling but weren’t saying either because didn’t know how to articulate their feelings or because they were afraid to speak out.

Is “The Time They Are A Chagin’” still relevant today? Yes, because their will always be people who resist change. In America the change has been moving in the direction of a moral idea that lines up with the way that I view the world and one day it may move away from the way. At that time, should I just accept change? No, change is something that is inevitable but that doesn’t mean we are powerless. It is important to not only recognize change but to be vigilant by helping change move things into a better direction. We all are constantly changing and our society reflects those changes in a positive way if we work for it and in negative ways if we do nothing. Thomas Jefferson said it best when reflecting on government:

"I am not an advocate for frequent changes in laws and constitutions, but laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind. As that becomes more developed, more enlightened, as new discoveries are made, new truths discovered and manners and opinions change, with the change of circumstances, institutions must advance also to keep pace with the times. We might as well require a man to wear still the coat which fitted him when a boy as civilized society to remain ever under the regimen of their barbarous ancestors."