"The times they are a'changin." - Bob Dylan
Just a moment ago, I looked for the sixteenth time today at the NYTimes website - it is my homepage when I open the web. There was a photo of a gathering of people with a lovely domed building in the background. It was clearly a political rally. I read the headlines. "Candidates Vie for Pieces of Changing Map." I clicked on it to read the piece. It was a rally today in St. Louis, MISSOURI - historically a fortress of Republicanism. But today, there in Saint Louis, 100,000 (that is not a typo! so there, Sarah Palin!!!) people gathered to see Barack Obama. It took even his breath away. Here are the words from the Times, (that most elite of the elite East Coast newspapers!)
Even Mr. Obama, who can wear self-possession like an overcoat, seemed taken aback. “What a magnificent day the Lord has made,” he said. “And thank you for being here today.”
I just started to weep. I was touched by his instinctual proclamation of faith. I realized that we are going to get the change we need. I realized, too, how tired and sad I am from the last eight years. Weary. Just weary. So I read it and wept and then thought...thank god, "the time's they are a'changin."
Because, frankly, if they weren't, I am in the mood for another '60's revolution. I am just melancholic and bored after 8 years of George Bush and the nut case evangelicals and war mongerers and liars who have been at the helm. I'm toast - and that is why I am crying. For hope. For the audacity of hope.
So, here's a little Bob Dylan for you - from 1964. (Not all the lyrics, but the most compelling for now.)
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 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'.
Even Mr. Obama, who can wear self-possession like an overcoat, seemed taken aback. “What a magnificent day the Lord has made,” he said. “And thank you for being here today.”
I just started to weep. I was touched by his instinctual proclamation of faith. I realized that we are going to get the change we need. I realized, too, how tired and sad I am from the last eight years. Weary. Just weary. So I read it and wept and then thought...thank god, "the time's they are a'changin."
Because, frankly, if they weren't, I am in the mood for another '60's revolution. I am just melancholic and bored after 8 years of George Bush and the nut case evangelicals and war mongerers and liars who have been at the helm. I'm toast - and that is why I am crying. For hope. For the audacity of hope.
So, here's a little Bob Dylan for you - from 1964. (Not all the lyrics, but the most compelling for now.)
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 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'.
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