In 2000, the song “Things Have Changed” from the movie “Wonder Boys” won Bob Dylan both an Academy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best original song. Dylan said he wrote it because he sympathized with the protagonist in the 1995 novel of the same name.
The story is a black comedy about an author and college professor (Michael Douglas) having an epic midlife crisis. His wife has left him, and his mistress is pregnant. His first novel years earlier was critically acclaimed, but the widely-anticipated second novel eludes him.
He smokes so much weed that he suffers regular blackouts. He is responsible for the death of his boss’s dog. His life is a mess and getting worse, but he soldiers on.
Dylan’s song is a succession of images about hopelessness, futility, and impending doom. It’s a great fit — even though the story somehow stumbles to a happy ending.
Things Have Changed
By Bob Dylan, 2000
Written by Bob Dylan
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.
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.
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.
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 easily. 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.
https://rockysmith.files.wordpress.com/2021/07/things-have-changed.mp3
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