“The Times They Are A-Changin'” by Bob Dylan

Bob Dylan set out to write an anthem for a moment when everything seemed up for grabs, and "The Times They Are A-Changin'" is what he came up with: the title song of his 1964 album, produced by Tom Wilson, with a melody that borrows the stern, rolling cadence of old Irish and Scottish ballads. It plays like a sermon from the town square, plain and unhurried, and because it never pins its message to one cause, it still fits whatever moment you drop it into; critics credit that universality for its staying power.

Britain got it as a 45 in 1965 and sent it to number 9, while America never got a single at all. Dylan has kept it close, playing it 633 times between 1963 and 2009, and in 2004 Rolling Stone ranked it 59th on its list of the 500 greatest songs of all time.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.