We Are Better Than This – Part 4

Watching the movie A Complete Unknown was a trip down memory lane. I was a big fan of folk music in the 1960s. I loved listening to Joan Baez; Pete Seager; Peter, Paul, and Mary; The Clancey Brothers; and many others. As I watched the movie and sang along with Bob, Joan, and Johnny Cash, I was transported back to my youth.

I remembered Bob Dylan’s protest songs like The Times They Are-A Changin‘ and Blowin’ in the Wind. What about Pete Seager’s anti-war song Where Have All the Flowers Gone? I wish that the current generation of musicians would respond to the present world crisis and write songs to reach a new set of listeners and call us to action.

If you continue reading, I’d like to share some of the lyrics from Dylan’s songs that are as relevant today as they were sixty years ago.

The Times They Are A-Changin’

Verse 1

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 saving
And you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times, they are a-changin’

Verse 3

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’

Blowin’ in the Wind

Verse 2

Yes, and how many years can a mountain exist before it is washed to the sea?
Yes, and how many years can some people exist before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see?

Refrain

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind
The answer is blowin’ in the wind

Verse 3