Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And expect that it soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Well 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 who gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled
There's a battle outside
And it's ragin'.
It'll 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
And your old road is
Rapidly fadin'.
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 soon be the past
And the order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
Ah, you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.