Song of the Day 9/29: The Changin’ Times, “Pied Piper”

Nothing says “we’re copying Bob Dylan!” quite like calling your folk-pop duo The Changin’ Times, and reinforcing it by using “masquerade” in the first line of the lyrics of your groovy tune. The song was co-written by Artie Kornfeld, who went on to be the musical director of the legendary Woodstock Festival.

The song did become a hit, but not until it was covered by a British pop idol-of-a-moment named Crispian St. Peters, who reached No. 4 in the US despite the fact that, well, he wasn’t much of a singer. The poor quality of the sound might explain why this one’s seldom resurrected even by filmmakers looking for an iconic period sound from 1965. It did get a brief exposure in HBO’s “Silicon Valley” — the fictional start-up is named Pied Piper.

Though the song was quickly forgotten as the times changed, Bob and Marcia cut a reggae version in 1971 that reached the UK charts.