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 'Cause the times they are a-changin'. Come writers, come critics Who prophesize with your pen And keep your eyes wide The chance won't come again And don't speak too soon 'Cause 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 that gets hurt Will be he who has stalled There's a battle outside And it is ragin'. It'll soon shake your windows And rattle your walls 'Cause the times they are a-changin'. Come mothers, come fathers Throughout the land Oh, don't criticize What you can't understand Oh, your sons and your daughters They' re beyond your command And your ol' road is Rapidly aging. So, get out of the new one If you can't lend your hand 'Cause the times they are a-changin'. Oh, the line it is drawn And the curse it is cast Oh, the slow one now Will later be fast As the present now Will later be past Oh, the order is Rapidly fading. And the first one now Will later past 'Cause the times they are a-changin'.