/7 Sam Cooke - A change is going to come
A beautifully harmonic and racially important song, 'A change is going to come' is surely the most meaningful and poetic song in Sam Cooke's musical catalogue. It is Sung with such heart rendering passion, it feels as if Cooke is singing for all his brothers and sisters who have suffered at the hands of racism and he seems to carry with his voice all their hope, dignity, pain and suffering. The lines are both sorrowful - 'it's been too hard a living but its too hard to die' and filled with a ray of hope that times will improve 'it's been a long time coming but I know a change is going to come soon.' The song is a mark of pride in a world that found itself flawed with prejudice. In a musical sense it has inspired countless ballads and classics that reach out against adversity and act as a tribute of hope, for example U2'S 'Pride in the name of love' and Marvin Gaye's 'What's going on?', both of which speak about a similar type of prejudice. Sam Cooke is seen as one of the founders of soul music who has influenced countless soul artists and the poignant beauty of this record is an example of the power that the form of music can have.
Cooke was part of the Civil Rights Movement and 'A Change is going to come' is an honest, truthful, straight from the heart account with which Cooke tried his best to bridge the gap between black and white audiences. The song then had an important influence on not just the music world, but on life itself. If not Cooke's most populr song it should be recognised as his most influential. An important part of musical history and indeed history in general. It captures a moment in time and has remained timeless in the fact that we still live in a flawed society.
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