If Bob Dylan’s second album, The Freewheelin’ Bob Dylan, hadn’t achieved sufficient to earn the tag of the voice of his technology, the follow-up solidified it. Released on Jan. 13, 1964, The Times They Are A-Changin’ was the sound of the legendary singer-songwriter coming into his personal.
Already the darling of the people scene for Freewheelin’ protest songs like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War” and “A Hard Rain’s a-Gonna Fall,” Dylan delivered a recent new batch on his third album. Once once more recording with simply an acoustic guitar and harmonica, he upped the ante, particularly on the title monitor, which stays a rallying cry for every new technology seeking to outline itself. Meanwhile, “With God on Our Side” questioned the ethical justifications given for wars all through the ages.
Dylan’s persevering with dedication to the civil-rights motion was manifested in “The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” and “Only a Pawn in Their Game,” however each took a brand new method, focusing the outrage on the illness – the entrenchment of racism in society – relatively than the signs. In the previous, it wasn’t sufficient {that a} drunken wealthy white man killed a hardworking African-American lady for no motive; he was additionally given solely a six-month jail sentence for his crime.
In the latter music, he dares to point out empathy towards the killer of civil-rights activist Medgar Evers by acknowledging that his actions had been the pure conclusion of an influence construction designed to maintain him down: “He’s taught in his school / From the start by the rule / That the laws are with him / To protect his white skin / To keep up his hate / So he never thinks straight / ’Bout the shape that he’s in / But it ain’t him to blame / He’s only a pawn in their game.”
Listen to Bob Dylan Perform ‘The Times They Are A-Changin”
But it wasn’t all political material. “Boots of Spanish Leather” and “One Too Many Mornings” are among Dylan’s most poignant and frequently covered ballads. When sung with the Band on his infamous 1966 tour, “Mornings” took on a new meaning. Rather than a regretful tune about the end of a relationship, Dylan appeared to be singing it to his audience, which couldn’t accept his decision to go electric: “You’re right from your side / And I’m right from mine / We’re both just one too many mornings / And a thousand miles behind.”
Although the songs on the album showed a natural progression of growth from his previous efforts, the cover artwork for Times was a noticeable departure from the previous two. Gone was the boyishly cherubic face of the debut and the idealistic romantic of Freewheelin’, replaced by a Woody Guthrie-esque black-and-white photo of a serious-looking Dylan with his eyes cast downward.
If there’s anything The Times They Are A-Changin’ lacked from its predecessor, it was a lack of lightness. The absurdist talking blues tracks that added levity to Dylan’s earlier social commentary were nowhere to be found. Still, it didn’t stop the album from reaching No. 20 on the chart, Dylan’s highest-charting record at the time.
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Gallery Credit: Bryan Wawzenek
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