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 saving Then you'd better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone For the times, they are a-changin Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pens 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 telling who that it's naming Oh, 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 battle outside ragin' Will soon shake your windows and rattle your halls 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 daughter are beyond your command Your old world is rapidly aging 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, 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 fading The first one now will later be last For the times, they are a-changin!