Come gather around 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 savin' Then 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 doorways, don't block up the hall For he that gets hurt will be he that has stalled The battle outside ragin' Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times, they are a-changin' Come mothers and fathers all over 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 aging 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 And 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' For the times, they are a-changin'