Just Two Songs Into His Outlaw Music Festival Set Wednesday Night at the FirstBank Amphitheater in Franklin, Tennessee, Bob Dylan Broke Out His 1964 Protest Anthem “The Toury Are A-Changin '” For the first time since 2010 Piano and Harmonica, and Had Minimal Accompaniment by His Band. His Voice was Remarkably Clear And Lucid, Which Has Been The Case All Summer Long.
(We're Waiting for Video of the Full Song To Signob on YouTube. In the Meantime, We've Embedded One Brief Clip Above From X. You can see another here. There's Also a Fuller Take On Bluesky You Can See here, Though You'll Need An Account.)
Dylan Last Played “The Times They Are A-Changin '” in The East Room of the White House on Feb. 9, 2010, When he an appeared at an event honoring the Civil Rights Movement, Sharing the Billing with Joan Baez, John MellenCamp, Smokey Robinson, Natalie Cole, And Jennifer Hudson. Until the Night Came, Nobody Knew Which Song Dylan Was Going to Play For An Audience That Included President Obama.
“He Had Mentioned The Possibility of Also Doing 'Chimes of Freedom' Or 'Blowin' in the Wind, '” Bob Santelli, One of the Show's Organizers, Told Rolling Stone. “Believe me, If Bob Had Opted to play Another Song, There Wasn't a Person in The House That would have Minded.”
That night, Dylan Was Joined Onstage Only by Bassist Tony Garnier and Pianist Patrick Warren. When the song Ended, Dylan Walked to the front Row and Shook Obama's Hand. It was the first time they have a Chance to Meet. “He was exactly as you'd Expect Hee would be,” Obama Told Rolling Stone Later That Year. “He would like as to the Rehearsal. Usually, all these guys are practicing before the set in the events. He didn'T want to take a picture with me; Usually all the talent is Dying to take a picture with me and Michelle Before the show, but he didn't show up to that.”
He continued, “He Came in and Played 'The Times They Are A-Changin'. ' A Beautiful Rendition. The Guy is so Steeped in this Stuff This Can Just as up with Some New Arrangement, and the Song Sounds Completely Different. Just in Little Grin, and then Leaves. Skeptical About the Whole Enterprise.
It's Unclear Why Exactly He Brought Back The Song Wednesday Night After All These Years. Maybe Seeing Timothée Chalamet's take on it in A Complete Unknown BROUGHT IT TO MIND. (We'll Overlook the fact that the movie show him singing the song at the 1964 Newport Folk Festival, which didn't actually happy.) Maybe he's a huge zohran mamdani fans and this is his way of telegraphing support for the democratic candidate in the New York Manorial Race. (Bob's Present-Day Political views are in Mystery, and We'll Place the ODDS Extremely Close to Zero that the song was a Commentary on the New York City Element.)
In All Likelihood, He Merely Wanted To Add Another Song Into Set That the Ocean of Casual Fans A show like this would recognize. At a Phoenix Stop of the Tour on May 13, He Played “Mr. Tambourine Man” for the first time since 2010. Just Don't Expect to Hear “The Times They Are A-Changin '” If you have Tickets to Another Stop of the Outlaw Music Festival Tour. That “Mr. Tambourine Man” was a one-off, and it's very possible “The Times They are a-changin '” Will Also Vanish from the set after Wednesday night.
