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'. [ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/b/bob_dylan/the_times_they_are_a_changin.html ]
I think its about the change that hippie movement was attempting to bring about. He was urging people(politicians, parents, the media) to not judge the ideals of the youth. Some people(the media, parents) saw the hippies as troublemakers and were fearful of how big this counter-culture was growing. The government saw them as socialist-pacifists that were becoming the biggest cultural phenomenon ever and feared they could become a threat to oppressive capitalist society and states such as the us and uk; much like the british saw meetings of revolutionaries during pre-revolution america as a threat to british control over the colonies. Dylan begging for people not to fear the change.
Times will constantly change. There is no avoiding that. Just let go of your illusion of time standing still. Since this was made in the 60's it has meaning to children leaving their parents and doing what they want to do. Classic dylan.