MusicBob Dylan sings’ The Times They Are A-Changin ” for the first time in 15 years

Only two songs after the beginning of your presentation in Outlaw music festival, Bob Dylan surprised by playing his 1964 protest anthem, “The Times They Are A-Changin”for the first time since 2010. It was a slow and moving version, in which Dylan He played piano and harmonica, with minimal accompaniment of the band. His voice was remarkably clear and lucid, as he has been throughout the season.

Bob Dylan’s First Performance of the Times They Are A-Changin ‘in 16 Years-This Evening In Beautiful Franklin, Tennessee

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The last time he presented “The Times They Are A-Changin” It happened in the East Hall of the White House on February 9, 2010, when he participated in an event in honor of the civil rights movement, sharing the stage with Joan Baez, JOHN MELLENCAMP, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole and Jennifer Hudson. Until the night arrives, no one knew which music Dylan would play for an audience that included the president of the United States, BarackObama.

“He mentioned the possibility of playing also ‘Chimes of Freedom’ or ‘Blowin’ in the Wind ‘“, he said Bob Santellione of the organizers of the show, Rolling Stone at the time. “Believe me, if Bob He had chosen to play another song, there was no one in the house that cared. “

That night, Dylan was accompanied on stage only by the bassist Tony Garnier and by the pianist Patrick Warren. When the music ended, he went to the front row and squeezed the hand of Obama. It was the first time they had a chance to meet. “He was exactly as expected,” Obama told Rolling Stone later that year. “He didn’t come to the rehearsal. Normally, all these guys rehearse before the show at night. And I didn’t want to take a picture with me; usually all the artists are crazy to take a picture with me and with Michelle [Obama] Before the show, but he didn’t show up, “said the former president.

He continued: “Dylan arrived and played ‘The Times They Are A-Changin’“. A beautiful interpretation. The guy is so linked to this that he can simply invent a new arrangement, and the song sounds completely different. The song ends, comes out of the stage – I’m sitting right in the front row – approaches, squeezes my hand, kind of slopes my head, gives me a smile and leaves. And that’s it – and he left. That was our only interaction. Bob Dylanright? You don’t want him to be tacky and smiling with you. You want him to get a little skeptical of all that endeavor. So it was a real delight. “

It is unclear why exactly he brought the music back to the stage after all these years. Maybe have seen the version of Timothée Chalamet for her in A complete unknown Remember this (let’s ignore that the movie shows you singing the song on the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, which didn’t really happen). Maybe he’s a big fan of ZOHRAN MAMDANI And this is your way of telegroping support for the Democratic candidate in the race for the new York mansion (current political views of Dylan They are a mystery, and we put the chances extremely close to Zero that the song was a comment about the election of New York City. Probably, he just wanted to add one more song to his repertoire than the crowd of casual fans of a show like this would recognize.

At a tour stop in May, he played “Mr. Tambourine Man” For the first time since 2010. Just don’t expect to listen “The Times They Are A-Changin” Live again. That presentation of “Mr. Tambourine Man” It was unique, and it is quite possible that the same happens to the song he rescued on Wednesday night.

Article published on June 26, 2025 at Rolling Stone. To read the original in English, click here.

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