One of Bob Dylan’s biggest songs was “influenced by Irish and Scottish ballads” according to the veteran songwriter.
While Dylan would pull from influences across music and world history, it may surprise some listeners to know one of his biggest songs had Willie Brennan to thank. The Cork highwayman was a reference point for Dylan on Rambling, Gambling Willie but also served as an influence on The Times They Are A-Changin’. The title track to Dylan’s third studio album was influenced by two songs from the Scottish and Irish songbooks, respectively. Two ballads would be the basis for a song which brought together the “civil rights movement and the folk music movements,” Dylan said. The folk protest singer would write dozens of all-time great songs during his pre-electric period, and The Times They Are A-Changin’ is certainly one of them.
Explaining the origins of the story to Cameron Crowe, Dylan would say both Come All Ye Bold Highway Men and Come All Ye Tender Hearted Maidens were direct influences on the song. He said: “This was definitely a song with a purpose.
“It was influenced of course by the Irish and Scottish ballads Come All Ye Bold Highway Men and Come All Ye Tender Hearted Maidens. I wanted to write a big song, with short concise verses that piled up on each other in a hypnotic way. The civil rights movement and the folk music movement were pretty close for a while and allied together at that time.”
It’s a song which has brought Dylan acclaim, and not just for the studio version. His performances of the song throughout his decades-long career has been the subject of much intrigue. Dylan once told biographer Anthony Scaduto that playing the song the day after John F. Kennedy’s assassination was an “insane” moment so early into his career.
He recalled: “I thought, ‘Wow, how can I open with that song? I’ll get rocks thrown at me.’ But I had to sing it, my whole concert takes off from there. I know I had no understanding of anything.
“Something had just gone haywire in the country and they were applauding the song. And I couldn’t understand why they were clapping, or why I wrote the song. I couldn’t understand anything. For me, it was just insane.”
Though the song would define the times and is considered one of Dylan’s best, not everybody was a fan. Musician Tony Glover was reportedly unimpressed with the wordplay Dylan was working with for The Times They Are A-Changin’, particularly the line “Come senators, congressmen, please heed the call.”
Glover asked: “What is this shit, man?” Dylan’s reply is classic. He told Glover: “Well, you know, it seems to be what the people want to hear.”
