As published in Broadside ("The National Topical Song Magazine") #39 - February 7, 1964
Lyrics/Chords:
G Em C G Come gather 'round, people, wherever you roam Em C D And admit that the waters around you have grown G E C G And accept it that soon you'll be drenched to the bone Am D If your time to you is worth saving C G D Then you better start swimming or you'll sink like a stone G D G 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 Don't speak too soon for the wheel's still in spin And there's no telling who it is naming For the loser now will be later to win 'Cause the times they are a-changin'
Come Senators, Congressmen, please heed the call Don't block up the doorway, don't stand in the hall 'Cause he that gets hurt will be he who has stalled 'Cause the battle outside, raging Will soon shake your windows and rattle your walls 'Cause 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 aging Please get out of the new one if you can't lend your hand 'Cause the times they are a-changin'
The line it is drawn and the curse it is cast The slowest one now will later be fast As the present now will later be past The order is rapidly fading And the first one now will later be last For the times they are a-changin'
And the fruit boats ride on the waves And the crew will dream of return Back to the Florida waters For the work of unloading onto the trains
And the ships will dance by the shore With fruit from Venezuela Brazil and Costa Rica But the fruit from the island of Cuba is carried no more
And on the decks it will lay Picked by the hands of the peons At the lowest possible wages While the profits are made by the strangers from far away
Now some pick the fruit of the vine While others will go to the mountains And eat the fruit of the hillside And learn the way of the rifle and wait for the time
Allianza dollars are spent To raise the towering buildings For the weary bones of the workers So they will be strong in the morning to go back again
And the companies keep a sharp eye And pay their respects to the army To watch for the hot-blooded leaders And be prepared for the junta to crush them like flies
So heavy the price that they pay As daily the fruit it is stolen Over the blue Caribbean But the lengthening shadow of Cuba will hinder the way
And the fruit boats ride on the waves And the crew will dream of return Back to the Florida waters For the work of unloading onto the trains
The Clash used lyrics from "United Fruit" in "Up in Heaven (Not Only Here)" on the album Sandinista! (1980):
The towers of London, these crumbling rocks Reality estates that the hero's got And every hour's marked by the chime of a clock Whatcha gonna do when the darkness surrounds? You can piss in the lifts which have broken down You can watch from the debris the last bedroom light We're invisible here just past midnight
The wives hate their husbands and their husbands don't care Their children daub slogans to prove they lived there A giant pipe organ up in the air You can't live in a home which should not have been built By the bourgeoise clerks who bear no guilt When the wind hits this building, this building it tilts One day it will surely fall to the ground
Fear is just another commodity here They sell us peeping holes to peek when we hear A bang on the door resoundingly clear Who would really want to move in here? The children play far away, the corridors are bare This room is a cage, it's like captivity How can anyone exist in such misery?
It has been said not only here
"Allianza dollars are spent To raise the towering buildings For the weary bones of the workers To go back in the morning"
It has been said not only here
"Allianza dollars are spent To raise the towering buildings For the weary bones of the workers To be strong in the morning To go back again"
It has been said
"To raise the buildings"
"Allianza dollars are spent To raise the towering buildings For the weary bones of the workers To be strong in the morning"
Oh you tell me that there's danger to this land you call your own And you watched them build the war machines right beside your home And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Before you pack your rifle and sail across the sea Just think upon the Southern part of land that you call free Oh, there's many kinds of slavery and we've found many more Yes I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
And before you walk out on your job and answer to the call Just think about the millions who have no job at all And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Turn on your TV, turn it on so loud And watch the fool a-smiling there and tell me that you're proud And listen to your radio, the noise it starts to pour Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Read your morning papers, read every single line And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
And listen to your leaders, the ones that won the race As they stand right there before you and lie into your face If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground, And tell police about your rights as they drag you down And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door Yes I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore
Studio version, Early Years:
Oh you tell me that there's danger to this land you call your own And you watched them build the war machines right beside your home And you tell me that you're ready to go marchin' to the war Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Before you pack your rifle, go sail across the sea Just think upon the Southern part of land that you call free Oh there's many kinds of slavery and we've found many more Yes I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
And before you walk out on your job and answer to the call Just think about the millions who have no job at all And the men who wait for handouts with their eyes upon the floor Oh I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
And read your morning papers, read every single line And tell me if you can believe that simple world you find Read every slanted word till your eyes are getting sore Yes I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Listen to your leaders, the ones that won the race As they stand there right before you and lie into your face If you ever try to buy them, you know what they stand for I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
Put ragged clothes upon your back and sleep upon the ground And tell police about your rights as they drag you down And ask them as they lead you to some deserted door Yes I know you're set for fighting, but what are you fighting for?
But the hardest thing I'll ask you, if you will only try Is take your children by their hands and look into their eyes And there you'll see the answer you should have seen before If you'll win the wars at home, there'll be no fighting anymore
by Bob Dylan