100 Records That Shook The World, #67

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Dylan recorded this song in October 1963. The night after the assassination of JFK, Dylan opened a concert with this song. He later talked about this in an interview:  "I thought, 'Wow, how can I open with that song? I'll get rocks thrown at me.' But I had to sing it, my whole concert takes off from there. I know I had no understanding of anything. Something had just gone haywire in the country and they were applauding the song. And I couldn't understand why they were clapping, or why I wrote the song. I couldn't understand anything. For me, it was just insane."

When the song was released as a single finally in 1965, folk music was closely allied with the civil rights movement, and Dylan recalled wanting to write an anthem for change, a song for the moment. He said he was inspired by the ballads of Ireland and Scotland: "I wanted to write a big song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way." 

 Whatever the reasons for writing the song, it has become the archetypal protest song, and even though it was more or less out of date as soon as it was released, its lyrics are somewhat general in their direction and thus they are still ringing true today. The song was ranked #59 on Rolling Stone's 2004 list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. Enjoy.

Bob Dylan- Times They are a Changin

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