The times they are a-changin' indeed... a Dylan concert in China

First, there was North Korean leader Kim Jong Il's second son Jong-chol sneaking into Singapore to watch Eric Clapton's concert  in February.

Now, the legendary Bob Dylan has given a sell-out concert in Beijing. It took place  on Wednesday, after he was reportedly banned from playing there last year. But his songs had to be vetted by the censors, so two of my all-time favourites -- Blowin' in the Wind; and The Times They Are A-changin' -- got the chop.

With the recent scare in the Chinese capital over the so-called nipped-in-the-bud "Jasmine Revolution" in mind, I wonder what went through the censors' minds as they perused these two songs' lyrics? Well, here they are:

Blowin’ In The Wind (1963)

How many roads must a man walk down

Before they call him a man

How many seas must a white dove sail

Before she sleeps in the sand

How many times must the cannonballs fly

Before they are forever banned

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

How many years must a mountain exist

Before it is washed to the sea

How many years can some people exist

Before they're allowed to be free

How many times can a man turn his head

And pretend that he just doesn't see

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowing’ in the wind

How many times must a man look up

Before he can see the sky

How many ears must one man have

Before he can hear people cry

How many deaths will it take till he knows

That too many people have died

The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind

The answer is blowin’ in the wind

 

The Times They Are A-changin’ (1964)

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 agein'.

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'.