Talk:The Times They Are a-Changin' (song)

Title

What does the a- in a-Changin' mean? English is not my native tongue so it makes no sense to me —Preceding unsigned comment added by 95.116.136.252 (talk) 13:36, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

I'm not an expert, but I think it may be simply a stylistic device - it doesn't change the meaning of the line, but maybe the song needs that extra syllable in order to rhyme properly, or the writer wanted to add emphasis to "changing". The experts on the Language Reference desk might be able to give you a better answer. --Kateshortforbob _talk 13:53, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

I'm no expert but you do hear folks in Britain and America using the anachronistic "a-" prefix from time to time (for example, "winter is a-coming on"). However, the use of "a-" before a word is also a stylistic trait common to both rock/pop music and folk music lyrics. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 14:11, 4 February 2011 (UTC)

That is a very interesting question, and the answer is also intriguing. According to English prefixes, (as far as I can tell), use of the a- prefix changes a verb to a "predicative adjective with progressive aspect." 24.27.31.170 (talk) 16:13, 11 October 2011 (UTC) Eric

Song rights sold?

I remember hearing a story about 5 or 10 years ago, the Bank of Montreal, when they went to change their image to BMO, bought all rights to this song. Can anyone confirm this? --Enigmatick 23:06, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Details of advertising use added to text.Mick gold (talk) 09:43, 10 February 2009 (UTC)

Cultural influence

I removed the last three adds to this section on the basis of notability (WP:NOT) and verifiability (WP:VER). As written and without citations, these types of statements are unencyclopedic in that they lend nothing to an understanding of the song's impact on our culture (WP:BETTER), and in fact would be of marginal note even within the context of a fansite (WP:TRIVIA). Granted, they might bear some significance if expressed as follows: "The popularity and influence of the song are reflected in its use in films such as Watchmen and television programs such as Wonder Years." Treating these statements thusly with the appropriate citations and without the extraneous detail puts the focus on the subject and the reader. But dropping them in randomly expecting others to prove their validity and demonstrate their significance is to do considerably less than half the work. Allreet (talk) 13:17, 2 March 2009 (UTC)

Infobox

The track listing for the album of the same name does not belong in the infobox for the article about the song. 24.27.31.170 (talk) 16:09, 11 October 2011 (UTC) Eric

It does when every song on the album has its own Wikipedia article. It's a navigational aid, pure and simple. You'll find this kind of thing in many infoboxes connected to especially notable artists/bands. --Kohoutek1138 (talk) 10:36, 12 October 2011 (UTC)

Requested move 4 February 2015

The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

The result of the move request was: album page moved. I have also moved the DAB to the undisambiguated title as there is no consensus that the song is the primary topic. Andrewa (talk) 00:42, 12 February 2015 (UTC)

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• The Times They Are a-Changin' (song) → The Times They Are a-Changin'
• The Times They Are a-Changin' → The Times They Are a-Changin' (album)

– I think that most people would agree that Dylan's song is actually more notable than his album. Bossanoven (talk) 22:56, 4 February 2015 (UTC)

• Support addition of (album) to album - but leave (song) on song. Useful for mobile readers. Baseline can point to either. Note The Times They Are a Changing (The Fureys album) is an original album and should exist as a redirect. A third [The Times They Are a-Changin' (Ian Campbell Folk Group)] is not an original album but a compilation of Ian Campbell Folk Group. In ictu oculi (talk) 00:39, 5 February 2015 (UTC)
• Support at the very least the album should be moved, since the song is much more primary worthy -- 70.51.200.101 (talk) 06:27, 5 February 2015 (UTC)
• Support adding (album) to the album per IIO. Leave song where it is. Always thinking that some of these RMs are colored by fans thinking their favorite artist is the most important in the world, I am going to declare an interest. Dylan is the most important artist in the world. When I was younger, the cool kids used to carry the album cover as a sign of how cool they were. Without checking, I suspect the album shifted more units than the song, although recordings of the song appeared on many albums. The reality is neither the nominator nor I have a clue as to whether the album or the song is the primary topic and it will do nobody any harm to distinguish between the two articles, like so many articles are distinquished. --Richhoncho (talk) 10:07, 7 February 2015 (UTC)

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The above discussion is preserved as an archive of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on this talk page or in a move review. No further edits should be made to this section.

Curious why the "a" in the page title is lower case

Okay, it's trivial or an OCD point but the presumably official website uses proper case with capital A for the title, and all lower for the verse
https://bobdylan.com/songs/times-they-are-changin/

The album jacket (both front and back, album title and song title) has all caps.

Dylan's original written lyrics (if accurately presented) have both all lower (a-changing), and Proper (A-Changin)
http://starcasm.net/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/Bob_Dylan_Times_They_Are_A_Changing.jpg
http://starcasm.net/archives/74992
https://americansongwriter.com/2010/11/no-more-auction-block-bob-dylans-times-they-are-a-changin-lyrics-hit-sothebys/

It would seem someone purposely used lower case "a" before capital C here, and did so numerous times. I wonder where that came from.72.190.112.100 (talk) 05:44, 13 January 2018 (UTC)

The word "a" would be lower-case, but correct capitalization would suggest that "a-changin'", as a hypenated, single word, should be capitalized, regardless of how Dylan himself spelled it. 128.151.71.16 (talk) 17:28, 21 March 2018 (UTC)