"The Times They Are a-Changin" is a song written by Bob Dylan and released on his 1964 album of the same name. In 2004, this song was #59 on Rolling Stone's list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Dylan's friend, Tony Glover, recalls visiting Dylan's apartment in September 1963, where he saw a number of song manuscripts and poems lying on a table. "The Times They Are-a Changin'" had yet to be recorded, but Glover saw its early manuscript. After reading the words "come senators, congressmen, please heed the call", Glover reportedly asked Dylan: "What is this shit, man?", to which Dylan responded, "Well, you know, it seems to be what the people like to hear".

A protest song, it is often viewed as a reflection of the generation gap and of the political divide marking American culture in the 1960s. Dylan, however, disputed this interpretation in 1964, saying "Those were the only words I could find to separate aliveness from deadness. It had nothing to do with age." A year later, Dylan would say: "I can't really say that adults don't understand young people any more than you can say big fishes don't understand little fishes. I didn't mean ['The Times They Are a-Changin'] as a statement... It's a feeling."

The song was used at the end of The Wonder Years episode #67 and has been confirmed to be used over the opening credits of the upcoming film Watchmen.

There is at least some suggestion that the song's lyrics and themes came from the biblical book of Ecclesiastes.

Cover versions

The song has been covered by many other people, most notably Joan Baez, The Seekers, The Byrds, Marc Bolan, Peter Paul & Mary, Phil Collins, Simon and Garfunkel, and Nina Simone (on 1969s To Love Somebody), and recently by Blackmore's Night and Les Fradkin.

Keb' Mo' covered this song in his 2004 album Peace...Back by Popular Demand. This version of the song was used in episode 8, season 5 of Boston Legal.

The Beach Boys recorded a cover of the song for thei