In the liner notes for his album Biograph, written by Cameron Crowe, Bob Dylan said the following about this song:

This was definitely a song with a purpose. It was influenced of course by the Irish and… Read More [Verse 1]

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

And you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone

For the times, they are a-changin'

[Verse 2]

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'

[Verse 3]

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

The battle outside ragin'

Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls

For the times, they are a-changin'

[Verse 4]

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 agin'

Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand

For the times, they are a-changin'

[Verse 5]

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 fadin'

And the first one now will later be last

For the times, they are a-changin'