Bob Dylan recorded “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” a month before John F. Kennedy’s assassination.
When the album was released on this day in 1964 — 57 years ago — it appeared as though Dylan was an oracle.
The lyrics to the title track included:
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’
The album, Dylan’s third, quickly became an anthem of both the civil rights and anti-Vietnam War movements.
Produced by Tom Wilson, it was the singer-songwriter's first collection to feature only original compositions. The album consists mostly of stark, sparsely arranged ballads concerning issues such as racism, poverty and social change.
The title track is one of Dylan's most famous. Many feel that it captures the spirit of social and political upheaval that characterized the 1960s.
By the time the album was released, Dylan was already entering a new phase in his career, pulling further away from his popular image as a protest singer.
Here Dylan performs his famous song at the White House in 2010