Times, They Are A-Changin'

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'
Then 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
There's a battle outside
And it is ragin'.
It'll 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'.

Believe it or not, there was once a time when my family was happy. That's the time this portrait was taken, which was fifteen years ago. It was taken in my paternal grandparents' back yard in Providence, Utah on a warm, sunny summer day. Today, it sits on the mantle of our non-functional fireplace, flanked by two pictures taken on the day my parents were married, twenty-five years ago Tuesday. As much as I hate my mother for the way she treated my father, I feel terrible that in a matter of months, this portrait will be split four ways. Yes, my dad let slip to me last night that he and my mom will be getting divorced. I knew for a long time that this would happen, but it's still unnerved me. If I could turn back time to when we were happy, I'd do all I could to save my parents' marriage. I really would. Sadly, I can't, and now it's beyond saving, and needs to be destroyed before it harms anyone any further. Divorce is never a good thing, but sometimes it's necessary.

Lyrics (c) Bob Dylan