Bob Dylan: 5 Great Live Versions of “Things Have Changed”





A worried man with a worried mind
No one in front of me and nothing behind
There’s a woman on my lap and she’s drinking champagne
Got white skin, got assassin’s eyes
I’m looking up into the sapphire-tinted skies
I’m well dressed, waiting on the last train

Lets just start with Dylan´s cool acceptance speech for Winning the “Original Song: 2001 Oscar”:

  • The song has been performed 820 times live
  • in 2014 he played it 88 times (2015 87 times)
  • First performance: MAR 10, 2000 – Anaheim, CA, Sun Theatre
  • Last performance: JUN 18, 2017 – Wallingford, CT, Toyota presents Oakdale Theatre

Sun Theatre
Anaheim, California
10 March 2000
Early show

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • David Kemper (drums & percussion)

Standing on the gallows with my head in a noose
Any minute now I’m expecting all hell to break loose

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

This place ain’t doing me any good
I’m in the wrong town, I should be in Hollywood
Just for a second there I thought I saw something move
Gonna take dancing lessons, do the jitterbug rag
Ain’t no shortcuts, gonna dress in drag
Only a fool in here would think he’s got anything to prove

King’s Dock
Liverpool, England
12 July 2001

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • David Kemper (drums & percussion)

Everyone agreed that the night’s highlight came at the end of “Things Have Changed”. As the song had progressed so had Dylan’s engagement with it; lines became stronger, words became clearer as he sang the second half into the microphone with verve and gusto. The song ended to a thunderous ovation as Dylan moved to the back of the stage near the amps, as he often does to locate a mischievously hiding harmonica, something else he needs, or just to scratch his head, gather his thoughts and come back with a new song. This time he came back with something else too, he clambered up and brought his Oscar down from on top of the amp. Half shy and yet fiercely proud, knees bent, like a little boy with a new toy he held it aloft to the cheers from the front rows of the audience.
-Andrew Muir (One More Night)

Lot of water under the bridge, lot of other stuff too
Don’t get up gentlemen, I’m only passing through

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I’ve been walking forty miles of bad road
If the Bible is right, the world will explode
I’ve been trying to get as far away from myself as I can
Some things are too hot to touch
The human mind can only stand so much
You can’t win with a losing hand

Manchester Evening News Arena
Manchester, England
9 May 2002

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Larry Campbell (guitar, mandolin, pedal steel guitar & electric slide guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • Jim Keltner (drums & percussion)






Nelson Mandela Forum
Florence, Italy
11 November 2011

  • Bob Dylan (vocal & keyboard)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Recile (drums & percussion)

Feel like falling in love with the first woman I meet
Putting her in a wheelbarrow and wheeling her down the street

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

I hurt easy, I just don’t show it
You can hurt someone and not even know it
The next sixty seconds could be like an eternity
Gonna get low down, gonna fly high
All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie
I’m in love with a woman who don’t even appeal to me

Mr. Jinx and Miss Lucy, they jumped in the lake
I’m not that eager to make a mistake

People are crazy and times are strange
I’m locked in tight, I’m out of range
I used to care, but things have changed

Royal Albert Hall
London, England
27 November 2013

  • Bob Dylan (vocal, guitar, grand piano & keyboard)
  • Stu Kimball (guitar)
  • Charlie Sexton (guitar)
  • Donnie Herron (violin, mandolin, steel guitar)
  • Tony Garnier (bass)
  • George Recile (drums & percussion)

Earlier posts in the serie:

-Egil

2 thoughts on “Bob Dylan: 5 Great Live Versions of “Things Have Changed””

  1. Thanks those late 90’s line up was i believe his best band ever charlie,larry,Keltner&Garnier and buckie sottin in every noe & then only one bob seen 102 i wanted ta brake 100 on bucket list so im happy but get off the frank kick bobby strap that strat & lets hit the road.

  2. Excellent work sir! Great to follow the evolution of this wonderful song. Faithful to the original at the start, moving to a more spare interpretation, before arriving the playful romp of today. And where next?!

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