Bob Dylan stunned fans with a moment they never thought they’d witness again. For the first time in 15 years, the legendary troubadour took the stage and launched into one of his most iconic anthems—his voice gravelly, haunting, yet unmistakably powerful. The crowd gasped at the first few notes, then erupted into cheers, some even wiping away tears. It wasn’t just nostalgia—it was history unfolding. Phones stayed down, hearts soared, and time seemed to stop as Dylan delivered each line with quiet fire. As the final chord rang out, the entire audience rose in a thunderous, emotional ovation. For many, it felt like a once-in-a-lifetime resurrection of a legend’s soul through song.
In 1964, Bob Dylan released The Times They Are a-Changin’, his third studio album and first comprised entirely of original material. Despite initially being a flop in the U.S., the album and its title track manage to stand out in Dylan’s extensive catalog of songwriting gems. As of June 2023, “The Times They Are A-Changin’” ranked as the legendary singer-songwriter’s 23rd most-performed song, and it achieved this status despite Dylan last playing it in 2010. And the Rock and Roll Hall of Famer ended that 15-year drought when he performed the song during a recent show.
Bob Dylan Slows Down “The Times They Are A-Changin’” For Tennessee Crowd
Those attending Bob Dylan’s Outlaw Music Festival set Wednesday (June 25) at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee got quite the surprise. The 84-year-old icon performed a slowed-down, almost spoken version of “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” accompanying himself on piano and harmonica.
He Last Performed the Song in 2010
Wednesday’s performance marked the first time a live audience has heard the 1964 protest anthem in 15 years. Bob Dylan last played “The Times They Are a-Changin’” in the East Room of the White House on Feb. 9, 2010. He joined Joan Baez, John Mellencamp, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, and Jennifer Hudson at an event honoring the Civil Rights Movement.
Until he took the stage, no one knew what Dylan planned to perform. Ahead of the event, he mentioned “Chimes of Freedom” and “Blowin’ in the Wind” as possibilities. “Believe me, if Bob had opted to play another song, there wasn’t a person in the house that would have minded,” Bob Santelli, one of the event’s organizers, told Rolling Stone.
Ultimately, he went with “The Times They Are A-Changin’.” A beautiful rendition,” recalled former president Barack Obama in 2010. “The guy is so steeped in this stuff that he can just come up with some new arrangement, and the song sounds completely different.”
After wrapping up his performance, Dylan walked over to where Obama was sitting in the front row. He shook the president’s hand, tipped his head and gave him “just a little grin” before leaving.
“And I thought: That’s how you want Bob Dylan, right?” Obama said. “You don’t want him to be all cheesin’ and grinnin’ with you. You want him to be a little skeptical about the whole enterprise. So that was a real treat.”
