Bob Dylan, born as Robert Allen Zimmerman, the son of a Jewish Standard Oil Company worker, has been called the voice of his generation and the greatest lyricist of the country thus far. He obtained the first title at the mere age of 25, at which time he had already put out such famous titles as "Blowin" in the Wind" and "Like A Rolling Stone". Today in 2003, Bob Dylan still writes new music and goes on tour. However, Dylan's most famous pieces come from the early 60's, a time in which change was occurring all over the nation. In his songs, Dylan addresses such topics as gender, race, and war. Two extremely political as well as popular songs were "The Times They Are A-Changin"" and "Hurricane". In the first song, Dylan shows his viewpoints on the incoming societal change in America, where as the second song deals with the inequality of the legal system towards minority groups through the case of a famous boxer, Rubin "Hurricane" Carter. Through Dylan's immense popularity, he was able to show his political viewpoint, which encouraged a change and a different perspective on America. .
Throughout Bob Dylan's "The Times They Are A-Changin"", he makes the upcoming shift in ideology in America apparent through his clever and powerful lyrics. This particular song is light, set to happy folk music; in this case, the music comes to represent Dylan's attitude towards change. Being extremely peaceful, his carefree tone signifies the new era coming in with ease, without violence. His first stanza calls to the common people to "admit that the waters/ around them [you] have grown" and that "they [you] better start swimming/ or they"ll [you"ll] sink like a stone." Here Dylan expresses the fact that America, whether acknowledged by the people or not, was changing rapidly and in order to survive, it was necessary to go with the change, to swim with the flow of water. The song which was written in the early 1960's and released in 1964 was based on a period of time in which Dr.