The Times They Are A-changin Tab by Bob Dylan


The Times They Are A-Changin'
Ballad of Hollis Brown
With God On Our Side
One Too Many Mornings
North Country Blues
Only A Pawn In Their Game
Boots of Spanish Leather
When The Ship Comes In
The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Restless Farewell

==============================================================

The Times They Are A-Changin'
Words and Music by Bob Dylan


     G             Em         C        G
Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
      G            Am      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            D7                 G           D
Then you better start swimmin' or you'll sink like a stone,
        G                 C    D  G
For the times, they are a chang - in'

Come writers and critics who prophecize 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 mothers and fathers throughout the land
 And don't criticize what you don'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 a hand
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's ragin'
It'll soon shake your windows and rattle your walls
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
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


Capo on first fret, double drop D tuning (DADGBd)

Finger a D chord (000230), but then use the middle finger (which isn't
needed on the first string) to fret notes on the 4th, 5th, and 6th strings.
Here are the most common bass patterns which he works into his strumming:

d-|---------------|
B-|---------------|
G-|---------------|
D-|-----0--3--0---|
A-|--3------------|
D-|---------------|

and sometimes
d-|---------------|
B-|---------------|
G-|-----------2---|
D-|-----0--3------|
A-|--3------------|
D-|---------------|

Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
Hollis Brown, he lived on the outside of town
With his wife and five children and his cabin broken down

He looked for work and money and he walked a ragged mile
He looked for work and money and he walked a ragged mile
Your children are so hungry that they don't know how to smile

Your babies eyes look crazy, they're a-tuggin' at your sleeve
Your babies 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?

He prayed to the Lord above, oh please send you a friend
He 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 baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a poundin' on your brain
Your baby's a-cryin' louder now, it's a poundin' on your brain
Your wife's screams a-stabbin you like the dirty driving rain

Your grass 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 long 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 your holdin' in your hand

There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
There's seven breezes blowin' all around the cabin door
Seven shots ring out like the ocean's poundin' roar

There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
There's seven people dead on a South Dakota farm
Somehere in the distance, there's seven new people born

============================================================

With God On Our Side
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


       C             F Em
Oh, my name it means nothing, 
       G            C
And my age it means less
        G         C    F
For the country I come from
   Em            Am
Is called the Midwest
      G                  C  F
I was taught and brought up there,
    C        F   C
The laws to abide
                    F    Em
And that the land I live in
    G  F       C
Has God on its side

Oh, the history books tell it, they tell it so well
The cavalry charged and the Indians fell
The cavalry charged and the Indians died
Oh the country was young then, 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 was made to memorize
With guns in their hands and God on their side

Oh, the first World War, well it came and it went
And 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 with God on your side

When 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 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 our side

But now we've got weapons of the 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 with God on your side

In many a dark hour I've been thinking 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 leaving, I'm weary as hell
The confusion I'm feeling, ain't no tongue can tell
The words fill my head and fall to the floor
If God's on our side, He'll stop the next war

=========================================================

One Too Many Mornings
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


C/B    x22010
F/A    x0321x
C/G    3x5050
/F     xx3010
/E     xx2010
G7     3x303x

         C                   C/B
Down the street the dogs are barking

         F/A            C/G
And the day is getting dark.

       C/G         /F   /E    
As the night comes in a-fallin'

                             G7    C/G'   G7
The dogs, they'll lose their bark.

    C                 C/B
The silent night will shatter

         F/A               C/G
From the sounds inside my mind

                   /F   /E
As I leave one too many mornings 

      G7       C/G  G7 C
And a thousand miles behind.

From the crossroads of my doorstep,
My eyes begin to fail.
And I turn my head back to the room
Where my love and I have laid.
And I gaze back to the streets
the sidewalks and the sign.
And I know I've one too many mornings
And a thousand miles behind.

It's a restless, hungry feeling
And it don't mean no one look 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 one too many mornings
And a thousand miles behind.

====================================================

North Country Blues
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


Capo third fret (Cm and Bb)

Simplified Intro:
  Am
e-------------|-------------|-------------|
B-----1---1---|-----1-------|-----1---1---|
G-----2---2---|-----2-------|-----2---2---|
D-----2---2---|-----2-------|-----2---2---|
A-0-----------|-------------|-0-----------|
E-------------|-0-------3---|-------------|

Am                                     G
Come and gather round friends and I'll tell you a tale
             Am       G              Am
Of when the red iron ore pits run a-plenty     
                                         G
But the cardboard filled windows and old men on the benches
      Am           G             Am 
Tell ya 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 shovels, they was hummin'
'Til one day my brother failed to come home
The same as my father before him 

With a long winters wait from the window I watched
My friends, they couldn't have been kinder
And my school it was cut as I quit in the spring
To marry John Thomas, a miner
 
Oh the years passed again and the giving was good
With a lunch bucket filled every season
But with three babies born, the work was cut down
To half a day's shift with no reason

An' the shaft was soon shut and my 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 closing

They complain in the east they payin' to high
They say that your ore ain't worth diggin'
That it's much cheaper down in the South American towns
Where the miners work almost for nothin'

So the minin' gates locked and the red iron rotted
And the room smelled heavy from drinkin'
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
The silence of tongues, it was building
'Til 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 are folding
My children will go as soon as they grow
For there ain't nothin' here now to hold them

** Simplified Interversal thing:
  Am
e-------------|
B-----1---1---|
G-----2---2---|
D-0h2-2---2---|
A-------------|
E-------------|

=====================================================

Only A Pawn In Their Game
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


*** Capo 2nd Fret ***

G                 C    (B A) G         C  (B  A)     G
A bullet from the back of a  bush took Medgar Ever's blood
                   C       (B A)  D
A finger fired the trigger to his name
(C B) G          C   (B A)  G      C    (B  A)  G
A     handle hid out in the dark a hand set the spark
    C    (B   A)  G
Two eyes took the aim
  Behind a  man's brain
But he   can't be blamed
     (B C)  D    (C B)    G
He's only a pawn in their game

Subsequent verses have an intro more like this:

G             Bm     Am              C    (B)   G
The south politician preaches to the poor white man
"You got more than the blacks, don't complain"
"You're better than them ,you been born with white skin", they explain
And the negro's name
is used it is plain
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 sheriff the soldiers, the governors get paid
And the marshalls 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 loks 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 a 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

The day Medgar Evers was buried from the bullet he caught
They lowered him down as a king
But when the shadowy sun sets on the one that fired the gun
You'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
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


Most of the tablature is here but some of the fills between
lines vary in the original recording.  The most important
part is synching the high string with the alternating bass pattern.

G       C/G      G        C/G      G
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|--0----1|--1----0|--0----1|--1----0|--0----0|
|-----0--|-----0--|-----0--|-----0--|-----0--|
|--0---0-|--2---2-|--0---0-|--2---2-|--0---0-|
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|3---3---|3---3---|3---3---|3---3---|3---3---|


           Em7                D7/F#    G
 |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
 |--0-----|--3----3|---0-0-0|---01---|--0----1|--1----0|
*|-----0-0|-----0--|--------|-2---2--|-----0--|-----0--|
*|--0---0-|--2---2-|--2---2-|--0---0-|--0---0-|--2---2-|
 |--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
 |3---3---|0---0---|0---0---|2---2---|3---3---|3---3---|

  Well I'm sailin' away my   own true love

|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|--0-----|--3----3|---01---|--0----1|--1----0|
|-----0-0|-----0--|-2---2--|-----0--|-----0--|
|--0---0-|--2---2-|--0---0-|--0---0-|--2---2-|
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|3---3---|0---0---|2---2---|3---3---|3---3---|

      I'm sailin' away   ^  mornin'
                       in the

|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|--0-----|--3----3|--3-----|-1------|--0----1|--1----0|
|-----0-0|-----0--|-----0--|---0-2-2|-----0--|-----0--|
|--0---0-|--2---2-|--2---2-|--2---0-|--0---0-|--2---2-|
|--------|--------|--------|3-------|--------|--------|
|3---3---|0---0---|0---0---|----2---|3---3---|3---3---|

     Is ^ somethin^send ^ across the sea
       there     I can   you from

|--------|--------|--------|--------|---01---|--------|
|--0-----|--3----3|---01---|--0-----|-----3--|--0-----|
|-----0-0|-----0--|-2---2--|-----0-0|-2-----2|-----0-0|*
|--0---0-|--2---2-|--0---0-|--0---0-|--0---0-|--0---0-|*
|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|--------|
|3---3---|0---0---|2---2---|3---3---|2---2---|3---3---|

 From the place ^  I'll be  landing?
               where

verses:

        Well I'm sailin away my own true love.
        I'm sailin' away in the mornin'
        Is there something I can bsend you from across the sea,
        From the place where I'll be landin'?

No, there's nothing you can bring me my own true love.
There's nothing I wish to be ownin'.
Just carry yourself back to me unspoiled
from across that lonesome ocean.

        Well 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.

If I had the stars from the darkest night
and the diamonds from the deepest ocean,
I'd foresake them all for your sweet kiss,
for that's all I'm wishin' to be ownin'

        That I might be gone a long old time,
        and it's only that I'm askin'.
        Is there something I can give 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.
For the same thing that I want from you today
I would want again tomorrow.

Well 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 feelin'."

Well if you my love must think that a'way
I'm sure your mind is a'roamin'.
I'm sure your heart is not with me
but with the country where you're goin'.

So take heed, take heed of the Western wind.
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
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


          EADGBe
          ++++++
Dsus2sus4 x54030

G                     Dsus2sus4   C           G
Oh the time will come up when the winds will stop
        Em          C             G
And the breeze will cease to be a-breathin
         G                Dsus2sus4       C           G
Like the stillness in the wind before the hurricane begins,
    G             D          G
The hour that the ship comes in

        Ds2s4    C             G
And the sea will split and the ships will hit
        Dsus2sus4    C                 G
And the sands on the shoreline will be shaking
       Dsus2sus4                C          G
And the tide will sound and the waves will pound
        G       C    C/B  D/A  G
And the morning will be a-breaking

Oh the fishes will laugh as they swim out of the path
And the seagulls will be a-smilin'
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
Oh the chains of the sea will have busted in the night
And be buried on the bottom of the ocean

A song will lift as the main sail shifts
And the boat drifts unto the shoreline
And the sun will respect every face on the deck
The hour that the ship comes in
And the sands will roll out a carpet of gold
For your wearied 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
And they'll raise their hands
Sayin' we'll meet all you demands
But we'll shout from the bow
Your days are numbered
And like Pharoah's tribe they'll be drownded in the tide
And like Goliath they'll be conquered

===============================================================

The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


Capo at 4th fret

1st verse:

C          Am            Em
William Zanzinger killed poor Hattie Carroll
       C            Am                 Em
With a cane that he twirled 'round his diamond ring finger
     C         Am      Em
At a Baltimore hotel society gathering
        C                Am         Em
And the cops were 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

chorus:

      F   G      C          Am         F    G        C
  But you who philosophy disgrace, and criticize all fears
  F        G    C             Am    F             G             C
  Take the rag away from your face, now ain't the time for your tears.

2nd verse:

William Zanzinger who had just twentyfour years
Owns a tabacco farm of sixhundred 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 snarling
And in a matter of minutes on bail he was out walking

   repeat chorus

3rd verse:

Hattie Carroll was a maid in the kitchen
She was fiftyone years 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'd never done nothing to William Zanzinger

   repeat chorus

4th verse:

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 cought him
And that the ladder of law has no top and no bottom
Stared at the person who killed for nor reason
Who just happened to be feeling that way without warning
And he spoke through his cloak most deep and distinguished
And handed out strongly for penalty and repentence
William Zanzinger with a six month sentence

final chorus:

         F   G      C          Am         F    G        C
  Ah but you who philosophy disgrace, and criticize all fears
  F        G   C            Am        F          G             C
  Bury the rag deep in your face, for now is the time for your tears.

=======================================================================

Restless Farewell
Bob Dylan
from David Cushman, http://gladstone.uoregon.edu/~dcushman/guitar.html


Capo at 4th fret     Played very freely

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
Gsus4/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

harmonica break: F C G G6 G7 C C/G

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

C/G=332010
G6 =3X200X
G7 =3X300X
Csus4=X33010
F/C=X33211
Gsus4/B=X2001X
Am/G=3X2210
f=1XXXXX  passing note
g=3XXXXX  passing note

Harmonica played cross harp (blues style)--use key of A

Note: played with no strict time, very freely.  Also played
freely are the strings strummed or picked for each chord, varying
from chord to chord and verse to verse.  Occasionally some chords
are left out, played with a different root, notes hammered etc.

submitted by Andrew Mullins
mullins@artsci.concordia.ca