Tag Archives: The Times They Are A-Changin’

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Song of the Day #570: ‘The Times They Are A’Changin” – Bob Dylan

First, let me say Happy Valentine’s Day to those of you who celebrate the holiday (my wife and I don’t, because every day is Valentine’s Day in our house, baby!). And more important, happy birthday to my daughter Fiona, who turned four today.

I dedicated a song to her last year so I don’t feel guilty about sticking with the Dylan theme this go-around. And if there was a song about hilarious, adorable, sweet, maddening little girls on The Times They Are A’Changin’, you can bet I’d pick it.

But there isn’t. So I’m going instead with a song that reminds me of my own childhood. Or my own adolescence, anyway.

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Song of the Day #569: ‘Boots of Spanish Leather’ – Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan’s third album, and his first to contain only original material, was 1964’s The Times They Are A-Changin’. It’s fascinating to consider that Dylan’s reputation as a protest singer and the artistic face of the civil rights era is based almost entirely on the songs he cut for this album.

Yes, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ and ‘A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall’ appeared on The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, but the rest of that album was a more good-humored and intimate affair. The Times They Are A-Changin’, by contrast, was folk singer medicine. Aside from the title track, which memorably warned of the coming revolution, declaring that “your sons and your daughters are beyond your command,” you have protest songs about specific injustices done to Medgar Evers, Hattie Carroll and others.

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