"What you don't know can't hurt you," at least that's what they say
but they don't know that what i know is hurtin' me like every day
with pin-prick pains i wake at night, i seek and try to find
though who knows what you could lose if they might find out your mind
but O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

While the poor man's doomed to stalk the streets in perverse poverty
the richest men build fortunes with their white-collar robbery
but the bosses can't be bothered with "brother, can you spare a dime?"
they're pimpin' in their penthouse suites, drunk off their finest wines
but O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

And the multitudes live out their lives in blissful ignorance
they leave the great decisions to their princes and presidents
when they see the flashin' picture screens they stare with the eyes of the blind
they trust when talkin' heads of state deny that it's time to resign
but O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

And no, i won't salute the flag, i don't support the troops
when they point their guns to stop us from assemblin' in groups
but i wonder what their whitewashed brains behold behind the lines
when they learn they've all been lied to and they're left in quite a bind
but O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

"The times they are a'changin'"- i don't know what Dylan meant
'cos now i hear he's singin' for Kaiser Permanent
but if you shift your space sattelite radio to gaze upon Freedom Chimes
stay tuned for the corporate corruption that slathers the rhymes with their slime
but O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

Now the riot's risin' like the tides and the end is nigh, it seems
and new violent nightmares creep their way into Amerikan dreams
but when the seas change, who will remain and who swims in the limey brine?
if it might be the meek go free while the mighty die for their crimes
then O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times

And maybe i was never good enough, or perhaps that's what you thought
but it could be that what i gave was better than what you got
so i'm headed west for the winter- i'll go where my clothes suit the climes
'cos i'm tired of searchin' and singin' these songs where the sun never shines in the pines
and O! no, mama, don't cry- it's only a sign of the times