The Times They Are A-Changin' ¹

Bob Dylan © 1963, 1968 Warner Chapell Music, 1991 Special Rider Music

(Official lyrics @ www.bobdylan.com)

     Lyrics for the "Theo Bikel Audio letter tape" version, first(?) ever recorded version below 
The Times They Are A-Changin' session 4, Columbia Studio A, NYC - 23.oct.1963  
The Times They Are A-Changin' session 5, Columbia Studio A, NYC - 24.oct.1963, album version 
Live, Carnegie Hall, NYC - 26.oct.1963  
Live, “Quest”, CBC TV Studios, Toronto ON - 1.feb.1964  
Live, Royal Festival Hall, London England - 17.may.1964  
Live, Town Hall, Philadelphia PA - 10.oct.1964  
Live, Philharmonic Hall, NYC - 31.oct.1964  
Live, Civic Auditorium, San Jose CA - 25.nov.1964  
Live, Free Trade Hall, Manchester UK, - 7.may.1965  

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
An' admit that the waters around you have grown
An' 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 an' critics who prophesize with your pen
An' 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
[There's a / The] battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows an' [rattle / rampage] your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come mothers an' fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can't understand
Your sons an' 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 [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'. 
    

The Times They Are A-Changin' ^{(2 first? known recording)}

The Theo Bikel Audio Letter Tape - early september 1963  

 Theodore Bikel : This tape that you have before you is uh - weird in the technical sense. 
They're two marvelous songs on it but is as done by myself, on a unfamiliar tape recorder, 
very, very late at night when Bobby was in the mood to do the songs ...
I thought the songs are so good, that Pete might want to perform them on the road ...
The songs are The Times They Are a-Changin' and When The Ship Comes In

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
An' admit that the waters around you have grown
An' 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… Come writers an' critics who prophesize with your pen
An' 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
Cause the times they are a-changin'.

Come… senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't block up the doorway, don't stand in the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he that has stalled
There's a battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows an' 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 fadin'
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend a hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn and the curse it is cast
The slowest 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'.