Irma Thomas / Take a Look / 1966
Times Have Changed
defiant, cool-headed, quietly triumphant
A former doormat tells her ex that his old tricks no longer work on her. Built on a simple before/after contrast, the song is a declaration of emotional independence delivered with the controlled confidence of someone who has already moved on.
self-reclamation emotional independence moving on from abuse/mistreatment power reversal healing through new love
Who's speaking
A first-person narrator addresses her former partner directly, using 'you' throughout. She is fully reliable and self-possessed, speaking from a position of hard-won clarity rather than lingering hurt.
What happens
The song opens by recalling a past dynamic where the narrator was instantly responsive to her partner's commands and absorbed his cruelty without complaint. It then pivots to the present, daring him to try the same behavior now, asserting that he will find her changed. The final section reveals the mechanism of that change: a new relationship that displaced the old pain, allowing her to close the door on the relationship for good.
How it's built
The song works in a call-and-response pattern between verses describing the past and a repeated chorus asserting the present. Each verse sets up a specific memory of submission or hurt, which the chorus then negates. The final section drops the verse/chorus division for a freer, almost taunting repetition of the central claim, functioning like an extended coda that drives the point home through insistence rather than new information.
Section by section
Opening verse
“snap your fingers and I'd come running”
Establishes the prior dynamic in blunt, almost degrading imagery of instant obedience, setting a low baseline from which the narrator will visibly rise.
First chorus
The pivot line announcing changed circumstances, paired with an explicit statement that love has ended, removes any ambiguity about her emotional state going forward.
Second verse
Expands the portrait of mistreatment, describing a pattern of absorbing emotional damage and smiling through it, which retroactively explains why the change in the chorus is significant rather than casual.
Final section
“somebody new I met made me forget”
Introduces the catalyst for her transformation, grounding the abstract claim of change in a concrete cause. The repeated insistence that follows reads as both reassurance to herself and a final taunt to him.
Craft
- before/after contrast
- The verses are built on past-tense habitual actions ('there was a time when...') set directly against present-tense refusal, making the entire song's architecture an argument about transformation.
- repetition
- The chorus phrase recurs with minimal variation and intensifies in the outro, mimicking the narrator's insistence and refusal to let the point go unheard.
- direct address
- The constant use of 'you' turns the song into a confrontation rather than a private reflection, reinforcing that this is a message meant to land on its target.
- dare/challenge framing
- The repeated invitation to 'try it now' functions almost as a taunt, flipping the power dynamic by inviting the very behavior that used to hurt her, now confident it will fail.
Reading it
The most direct reading is a straightforward breakup anthem about reclaiming agency after being treated poorly, with the new relationship serving as proof and perhaps partial cause of her newfound strength. An alternative reading treats the 'somebody new' not as the true source of her resolve but as a convenient explanation she offers him, while the real change is internal growth and self-respect developed over time; the new partner is almost incidental, a detail used to needle him rather than the actual engine of her transformation.
Context
Irma Thomas recorded for various New Orleans-associated labels in the 1960s and was a key figure in the city's soul scene before Hurricane Katrina later disrupted much of that era's archival legacy. I don't have reliable specific information about the recording circumstances of this particular track beyond the album and year given, so I'm working primarily from the lyric and general knowledge of her career and genre context.
Listen for
- the shift in vocal confidence between verses describing the past and the assertive chorus
- how the repeated dare to 'try it now' is delivered -- listen for taunting versus matter-of-fact phrasing
- the way the ending abandons clear verse/chorus structure for cumulative repetition, mirroring emotional resolve hardening into certainty
- any instrumental lift or groove change that underscores the narrator's new sense of power
About Irma Thomas
Irma Thomas is an American singer from New Orleans. She is known as the "Soul Queen of New Orleans".
b. 1941 / United States
Full biography and catalogue