The times, they are a'changin. While looking up that line to confirm the spelling, I paused to read the rest of lyrics. Though not one of the writer's fans, what was written 60 years ago, appears applicable in part, as we live through another cultural shift in values and perceptions .
"Come gather 'round 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' And you better start swimmin' Or you'll sink like a stone For the times they are a-changin'
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' 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 The battle outside ragin' Will soon shake your windows And rattle your walls For the times they are a-changin'
Nicely done, but you left out the verse that put the lie to a lot of it.
To wit:
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'
For those who didn't live through it, not everybody in their teens drank the media Kool-Ade. The Vietnam War had a higher rate of voluntarism than WWII. Lots of young guys were Hard Hats, rather than hippie dippy types.
Fake News played up the Lefties (surprise!) and Times was touted as The Anthem Of A Generation.
I remember how the Villanova chapter of the SDS got their heads handed to them by the campus NROTC when they tried to sell Viet Cong war bonds on campus.
For a lot of people, the verse I quoted was the exact opposite of their thinking. All they'd learned from Mom and Dad was very much a part of their thinking. After all, all the kids who weren't campus commandos were the ones who gave us the rise of Conservatism and the Reagan Revolution.
And the interesting part is that old road is still there, maybe stronger than ever. I don't think it's a cultural shift as much as all the old lies are coming home to roost and the true nature of all those "Liberals" has finally come out*. Glenn Reynolds once observed it wasn't Western Civ that was collapsing, it was the chi chi Left and all its tropes. He may have been wrong about a lot, but I'm continually impressed by how well he nailed that one.
* I remember in a book about the WWII Marine Raiders how Franklin Roosevelt's inner circle was described as salon socialists and closet communists.
2 comments:
The times, they are a'changin. While looking up that line to confirm the spelling, I paused to read the rest of lyrics. Though not one of the writer's fans, what was written 60 years ago, appears applicable in part, as we live through another cultural shift in values and perceptions .
"Come gather 'round 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'
And you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'
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'
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
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'
Nicely done, but you left out the verse that put the lie to a lot of it.
To wit:
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'
For those who didn't live through it, not everybody in their teens drank the media Kool-Ade. The Vietnam War had a higher rate of voluntarism than WWII. Lots of young guys were Hard Hats, rather than hippie dippy types.
Fake News played up the Lefties (surprise!) and Times was touted as The Anthem Of A Generation.
I remember how the Villanova chapter of the SDS got their heads handed to them by the campus NROTC when they tried to sell Viet Cong war bonds on campus.
For a lot of people, the verse I quoted was the exact opposite of their thinking. All they'd learned from Mom and Dad was very much a part of their thinking. After all, all the kids who weren't campus commandos were the ones who gave us the rise of Conservatism and the Reagan Revolution.
And the interesting part is that old road is still there, maybe stronger than ever. I don't think it's a cultural shift as much as all the old lies are coming home to roost and the true nature of all those "Liberals" has finally come out*. Glenn Reynolds once observed it wasn't Western Civ that was collapsing, it was the chi chi Left and all its tropes. He may have been wrong about a lot, but I'm continually impressed by how well he nailed that one.
* I remember in a book about the WWII Marine Raiders how Franklin Roosevelt's inner circle was described as salon socialists and closet communists.
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