Bob Dylan (born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter, author, musician and poet who has been a major figure in popular music for five decades. Much of Dylan's most celebrated work dates from the 1960s, when he became an informal chronicler and a reluctant figurehead of American unrest. A number of his songs, such as Blowin' in the Wind and The Times They Are a-Changin', became anthems of the anti-war and civil rights movements. His most recent studio album, Modern Times (2006) was named ‘Album of the Year’ by Rolling Stone magazine.

Dylan's early lyrics incorporated politics, social commentary, philosophy and literary influences, defying existing pop music conventions and appealing widely to the counterculture. While expanding and personalizing musical styles, he has shown steadfast devotion to many traditions of American song, from folk and country/blues to gospel, rock and roll and rockabilly, to English, Scottish and Irish folk music, even jazz and swing.

Bob Dylan was handed a Pulitzer Prize Special Citation (the Pulitzer prize is normally awarded to US print journalism) in 2008, for his "profound impact on popular music and American culture, marked by lyrical compositions of extraordinary poetic power".

The Times, they are a-changin'

Released in 1964 on the album of the same name, The Times … is often viewed as a reflection of the generation gap and of the political divide marking American culture in the 1960s. Dylan, however, disputed this interpretation, saying "Those were the only words I could find to separate aliveness from deadness. It had no-thing to do with age."

Come gather 'round people wherever you roam
And admit that the waters around you have grown
And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide. The chance won’t come again
And don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who that it's namin'.
For the loser now will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.

Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway. Don’t block up the hall
For he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled.
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'.

Come mothers and fathers throughout the land
And don't criticize what you can’t understand.
Your sons and your daughters are beyond your command.
Your old road is rapidly agin'.
Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.

The line it is drawn. The curse it is cast
The slow one now will later be fast
As the present now will later be past.
The order is rapidly fadin’.
And the first one now will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

(www.bobdylan.com)