Things Have Changed

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Clinton Heylin has written that "Things Have Changed" demonstrates a close knowledge of the film Wonder Boys, for which it was written. For Henley, Dylan is “the quintessential enigmatic character” who’s been able to “maintain a certain mystery that he cultivated from the very beginning”. Shaw hoped to include this unreleased version on Volume 8 of Dylan's Bootleg Series, Tell Tale Signs.

The lyrics make reference to "dancing lessons", "the jitterbug rag" and dressing "in drag", all of which feature in the plot of the film. As of December 8, 2019, the date of its most recent outing, Dylan has performed the song 1,060 times. Its success in the world of film and the Academy Award win introduced a new audience to Dylan’s music and reaffirmed his influence in the world of songwriting and performance.The song was inspired by a meeting with country musician Marty Stuart and Stuart's song "The Observations of a Crow" from the concept album The Pilgrim.

Song to Woody", "Highlands" and "Blowin' in the Wind" recorded live at Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium, Santa Cruz, California on March 16, 2000. Dylan critic Kees de Graaf places "Things Have Changed" in the context of the Biblical teaching Dylan encountered when he studied with the Vineyard Fellowship in the late 1970s. This makes it his ninth most frequently performed live song ever and the only Dylan song since the 1970s on the list of his top 10 most performed songs. He intercut footage of Dylan with sequences from the feature film, to suggest that Dylan was interacting with the film's characters.

This live version of "Highlands" and "Blowin' in the Wind" is available from the bonus CD with The Best of Bob Dylan, Vol. Sources agree the musicians who accompanied Dylan in the studio were his touring band at the time: Charlie Sexton and Larry Campbell on guitar, Tony Garnier on bass and David Kemper on drums and percussion. In the end, therefore, ‘Things Have Changed’ stands as a testament to Dylan’s remarkable knack for swiftly creating art — a skill possessed by only a chosen few. His voice has changed; it has continued to change throughout his career, and is a true and often personal reflection of the man at that time.