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Bob Dylan : The Times They Are A-Changin'
1964

  1. The Times They Are A-Changin'
    +2
  2. Ballad Of Hollis Brown
  3. With God On Our Side
  4. One Too Many Mornings
    +5
  5. North Country Blues

  6. Only A Pawn In Their Game
  7. Boots Of Spanish Leather
  8. When The Ship Comes In
  9. The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll
  10. Restless Farewell

The Times They Are A-Changin'

Harp:
G
Dsus2/c x30230
G/b x20030
G
Em
C
G
Come gather round people, wherever you roam
G
Em
C
D
And admit that the waters around you have grown
G
Em
C
G
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone
G
Am
D
If your time to you Is worth savin'
D
Dsus2/c
G/b
D/a
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone
G
C
D
G
. . For the times they are a-changin' |
G
|
Em
|
C
|
G
| | | ... 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' 'Cause 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 The battle outside ragin' Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin' 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' 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'

Ballad Of Hollis Brown

Tuning: DADGBD (Double Drop D)
Capo:
I
The melody and arrangement are based on the folk song Pretty Polly.
|---0--keep--------|-----------------|
|---3-strumming----|-----------------|
|---2--------------|-----------------|
|---------0------3-|-0-------0-----3-| etc
|-------3----------|-------3---------|
|-0----------------|-----------------|
Dm
/c
Dm
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
Dm
/c
Dm
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
Dm
/c
/b
Dm
With his wife and five children and his cabin broken down You looked for work and money and you walked a rugged mile You looked for work and money and you walked a rugged mile Your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile Your baby's eyes look crazy they're a-tuggin' at your sleeve Your baby's eyes look crazy they're a-tuggin' at your sleeve You walk the floor and wonder why with every breath you breathe The rats have got your flour bad blood it got your mare The rats have got your flour bad blood it got your mare If there's anyone that knows is there anyone that cares? You prayed to the Lord above oh please send you a friend You prayed to the Lord above oh please send you a friend Your empty pockets tell you that you ain't a-got no friend Your babies are crying louder now it's pounding on your brain Your babies are crying louder now it's pounding on your brain Your wife's screams are stabbin' you like the dirty drivin' rain Your grass it is turning black there's no water in your well Your grass is turning black there's no water in your well You spent your last lone dollar on seven shotgun shells Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls Way out in the wilderness a cold coyote calls Your eyes fix on the shotgun that's hangin' on the wall Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand Your brain is a-bleedin' and your legs can't seem to stand Your eyes fix on the shotgun that you're holdin' in your hand There's seven breezes a-blowin' all around the cabin door There's seven breezes a-blowin' all around the cabin door Seven shots ring out like the ocean's pounding roar There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm Somewhere in the distance there's seven new people born

With God On Our Side

Harp:
C
(straight)
G 320003
G6 322003 or 3x2003
G7 323003 or 3x3003
C
|
F
|
Em
|
G
|
C
C
F
Em
G
*
C
Oh my name it ain't nothin', my age it means less
F
Em
G
C
F
C
The country I come from is called the Midwest
F
Em
G
C
F
C
I's taught and brought up there the laws to abide
F
Em
G
*
C
And that the land that I live in has God on its side Oh the history books tell it, they tell it so well The cavalries charged, the Indians fell The cavalries charged, the Indians died Oh the country was young with God on its side The Spanish American War had its day And the Civil War too was soon laid away And the names of the heroes I's made to memorize With guns in their hands and God on their side The First World War, boys, it came and it went The reason for fighting I never did get But I learned to accept it, accept it with pride For you don't count the dead when God's on your side The Second World War came to an end We forgave the Germans and then we were friends Though they murdered six million, in the ovens they fried The Germans now too have God on their side I've learned to hate the Russians all through my whole life If another war comes, it's them we must fight To hate them and fear them, to run and to hide And accept it all bravely with God on my side But now we got weapons of chemical dust If fire them we're forced to, then fire them we must One push of the button and a shot the world wide And you never ask questions when God's on your side Through many dark hours I've been thinkin' about this That Jesus Christ was betrayed by a kiss But I can't think for you, you'll have to decide Whether Judas Iscariot had God on his side So now as I'm leavin' I'm weary as Hell The confusion I'm feelin', ain't no tongue can tell The words fill my head and then fall to the floor That if God's on our side he'll stop the next war

One Too Many Mornings

Harp:
C
(straight)
C
Em/b
Down the street the dogs are barking
F/a
C/g
And the day is a-getting dark
C/g
Csus4
C/e
As the night comes in a-fallin'
G9
C/g
G9
The dogs, they'll lose their bark
C
Em/b
And the silent night will shatter
F/a
C/g
From the sounds inside my mind
Csus4
C/e
And I'm one too many mornings
G9
C/g
G9
C
And a thousand miles behind From the crossroads of my doorstep My eyes start to fade And I turn my head back to the room Where my love and I have laid And I gaze back to the street The sidewalk and the sign And I'm one too many mornings And a thousand miles behind It's a restless, hungry feeling That don't mean no one no good When everything I'm saying You can say it just as good You are right from your side And I am right from mine We're both just one too many mornings And a thousand miles behind

North Country Blues

Capo:
III
Am
G
Come gather round friends and I'll tell you a tale
Am
G
Am
Of when the red iron ore pits ran a-plenty
Am
G
But the cardboard filled windows and old men on the benches
Am
G
Am
Tell you now that the whole town is empty In the north end of town my own children are grown But I was raised on the other In the wee hours of youth my mother took sick And I was brought up by my brother The iron ore poured as the years passed the door The drag lines and the shovels they was a-humming 'Til one day my brother failed to come home The same as my father before him Well a long winter's wait from the window I watched My friends they couldn't have been kinder And my schooling was cut as I quit in the spring To marry John Thomas, a miner Oh the years passed again and the givin' was good With the lunch bucket filled every season What with three babies born the work was cut down To a half-a-day shift with no reason Then the shaft was soon shut and more work was cut And the fire in the air, it felt frozen 'Til a man come to speak and he said, in one week That number eleven was closin' They complained in the East they are paying too high They say that your ore ain't worth digging That it's much cheaper down in the South American towns Where the miners work almost for nothing So the mining gates locked and the red iron rotted And the room smelled heavy from drinking When the sad, silent song made the hour twice as long As I waited for the sun to go sinking I lived by the window as he talked to himself This silence of tongues it was building Till one morning's wake the bed it was bare And I's left alone with three children The summer is gone, the ground's turning cold The stores one by one they're a-folding My children will go as soon as they grow Well, there ain't nothing here now to hold them

Only A Pawn In Their Game

Capo:
II
G
C
/b
/a
G
C
/b
/a
G
A bullet from the back of a bush took Medgar Evers' blood
G
C
/b
D/a
A finger fired the trigger to his name
/c
/b
G
C
/b
/a
G
A handle hid out in the dark
C
G
A hand set the spark
C
G
Two eyes took the aim
C
G
Behind a man's brain
C
G
But he can't be blamed
G
/b
C
D
C
/b
G
He's only a pawn in their game
G
Bm*
Am
C
G
A South politician preaches to the poor white man
G
C
/b
D
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain
/c
/b
G
C
/b
/a
G
C
G
You're better than them, you been born with white skin," they explain And the Negro's name Is used it is plain For the politician's gain As he rises to fame And the poor white remains On the caboose of the train But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game The deputy sheriffs, the soldiers, the governors get paid And the marshals and cops get the same But the poor white man's used in the hands of them all like a tool 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 From the poverty shacks, he looks from the cracks to the tracks And the hoof beats pound in his brain And he's taught how to walk in a pack Shoot in the back With his fist in a clinch To hang and to lynch To hide 'neath the hood To kill with no pain Like a dog on a chain He ain't got no name But it ain't him to blame He's only a pawn in their game Today, Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught They lowered him down as a king
/c
/b
G
C
G
C
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one That fired the gun He'll see by his grave On the stone that remains Carved next to his name His epitaph plain Only a pawn in their game

Boots Of Spanish Leather

Em9 05403x
Em9
D7/f#
G
C/g
G
Oh, I'm sailin' away my own true love
Em9
D7/f#
G
I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
Em
C/g
G
Is there something I can send you from across the sea
Em9
D7/f#
G
C/g
G
From the place that I'll be landing? No, there's nothing you can send me my own true love There's nothing I'm a-wishin' to be ownin' Just a-carry yourself back to me unspoiled From across that lonesome ocean Ah, but I just though you might want something fine Made of silver or of golden Either from the mountains of Madrid Or the coast of Barcelona But if I had the stars from the darkest night And the diamonds from the deepest ocean I'd forsake them all for your sweet kiss For that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin' But I might be gone a long old time And it's only that I'm askin' Is there something I can send you to remember me by To make your time more easy passin'? Oh how can, how can you ask me again? It only brings me sorrow The same thing I would want today I would want again tomorrow Oh I got a letter on a lonesome day It was from her ship a-sailin' Sayin' "I don't know when I'll be comin' back again It depends on how I'm a-feelin'" If you my love must think that-a-way I'm sure your mind is a-roamin' I'm sure your thoughts are not with me But with the country to where you're goin' So take heed, take heed of the Western winds Take heed of the stormy weather And yes, there's something you can send back to me Spanish Boots of Spanish Leather

When The Ship Comes In

Harp:
G
(straight)
Bm/f# xx4430
C/e 302010
G
Bm/f#
C/e
G
Oh the time will come up when the winds will stop
Em
C
G
And the breeze will cease to be breathin'
G
Bm/f#
C
G
Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins
G
D
G
The hour that the ship comes in
Bm/f#
Am7
G
And the sea will split and the ship will hit
Bm/f#
Am7
G
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking
G
Bm/f#
Am7
G
Then the tide will sound and the waves will pound
G
/b
/c
D
/c
/b
/a
G
And the morning will be a-breaking... The fishes will laugh as they swim out of the path And the seagulls they'll be smiling And the rocks on the sand will proudly stand The hour that the ship comes in And the words that are used for to get the ship confused Will not be understood as they're spoken For the chains of the sea will have busted in the night And be buried at the bottom of the ocean A song will lift as the mainsail shifts And the boat drifts on to the shoreline And the sun will respect the every face on the deck The hour that the ship comes in Then the sands will roll out a carpet of gold For your weary toes to be a-touchin' And the ship's wise men will remind you once again That the whole wide world is watchin' Oh the foes will rise with the sleep still in their eyes And they'll jerk from their beds and think they're dreamin' But they'll pinch themselves and squeal and they'll know that it's for real The hour that the ship comes in Then they'll raise their hands, sayin' we'll meet all your demands But we'll shout from the bow your days are numbered And like Pharaoh's tribe, they'll be drownded in the tide And like Goliath, they'll be conquered

The Lonesome Death Of Hattie Carroll

Capo:
IV
Harp:
C
[or
E
with capo] (straight)
G* = G G6 G7
C
Am
Em
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
C
Am
Em
With a cane that he twirled around his diamond ring finger
C
Am
Em
At a Baltimore hotel society gathering
C
Am
Em
And the cops was called in and his weapon took from him
C
Am
Em
As they rode him in custody down to the station
C
Am
Em
G
And booked William Zanzinger for first-degree murder
F
G
*
C
Am
But you who philosophize disgrace
F
G
*
C
And criticize all fears
F
G
*
C
Am
Take the rag away from your face
F
G
*
C
Now ain't the time for your tears William Zanzinger, who at twenty-four years Owns a tobacco farm of six hundred acres With rich wealthy parents who provide and protect him And high office relations in the politics of Maryland Reacted to his deed with a shrug of his shoulders And swear words and sneering, and his tongue it was a-snarling And in a matter of minutes on bail was out walking But you who philosophize disgrace And criticize fears Take the rag away from your face Now ain't the time for your tears Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen She was fifty-one years old and gave birth to ten children Who carried the dishes and took out the garbage And never sat once at the head of the table And didn't even talk to the people at the table Who just cleaned up all the food from the table And emptied the ashtrays on a whole other level Got killed by a blow, lay slain by a cane That sailed through the air and came down through the room Doomed and determined to destroy all the gentle And she never done nothing to William Zanzinger And you who philosophize disgrace And criticize all fears Take the rag away from your face Now ain't the time for your tears In the courtroom of honor, the judge pounded his gavel To show that all's equal and that the courts are on the level And that the strings in the books ain't pulled and persuaded And that even the nobles get properly handled Once that the cops have chased after and caught 'em And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom Stared at the person who killed for no reason Who just happened to be feelin' that way without warnin' And he spoke through his cloak, most deep and distinguished And handed out strongly, for penalty and repentance William Zanzinger with a six-month sentence Oh, but you who philosophize disgrace And criticize all fears Bury the rag deep in your face For now's the time for your tears

Restless Farewell

Capo:
IV
Harp:
G
[or
B
with capo] (cross)
G6 3x200x
G7 3x300x
C/g
F
C/g
Oh all the money that in my whole life I did spend
G
G6
G7
Csus4
C
Csus4
C
G
Be it mine right or wrongfully
C
Csus4
C
F
C/g
I'd let it slip gladly to my friends
G
G6
G7
C
Csus4
C
To tie up the time most forcefully
C
F/c
C
C/g
F
C
But the bottles are done, we've killed each one
/b
Am
Am/g
/f
G
G6
G7
C
/g
And the table is full and overflowed
C
F
C/g
F
C/g
And the corner sign says it's closing time
F
C
G
G6
G7
C
Csus4
C
So I'll bid farewell and be down the road Oh every girl that ever I've touched I did not do it harmfully And every girl that ever I've hurt I did not do it knowingly But to remain as friends, you need the time To make amends and stay behind And since my feet are now fast And point away from the past I'll bid farewell and be down the line Oh every foe that ever I faced The cause was there before we came And every cause that ever I fought I fought it full without regret or shame But the dark does die as the curtain is drawn And somebody's eyes must meet the dawn And if I see the day I'd only have to stay So I'll bid farewell in the night and be gone Oh every thought that strung a knot in my mind I might go insane if it couldn't be sprung But it's not to stand naked under unknown (unknowin'?) eyes It's for myself and my friends my stories are sung But the time ain't tall if on time you depend And no word is possessed by no special friend And though the line is cut it ain't quite the end I'll just bid farewell till we meet again Oh a false clock tries to tick out my time To disgrace, distract and bother me And the dirt of gossip blows into my face And the dust of rumors covers me But if the arrow is straight and the point is slick It can pierce through the dust no matter how thick So I'll make my stand and remain as I am And bid farewell and not give a damn