Meaning of A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke

In his 2008 election victory speech, Barack Obama used the expression “Change is coming to America” in an apparent reference to Sam Cooke’s famous song A Change Is Gonna Come. Then, at the inauguration, it was sung by a duet between Betty Lovett and Jon Bon Jovi.

Surely the late musician would have agreed with the President that the election of an African American as the leader of the nation confirms the onset of the changes that he foresaw decades ago.

A Change Is Gonna Come Song Story

The history of the creation of one of the most famous protest compositions cannot be considered without remembering two very important events, without which it might not have been born.

The first can be called the release of the song Blowin’ in the Wind by Bob Dylan. Cook immediately fell in love with her, but believed that from the lips of a dark-skinned guy she would sound more convincing, and immediately included her in the repertoire. It is believed that she pushed him to write a masterpiece.

The second incident was the refusal of the Holiday In Hotel in Shreveport, Louisiana, to provide rooms for Sam, his wife and friends. The musician’s attempts to achieve justice ended with the fact that he and several friends were arrested for disturbing the peace.

It happened in October 1963, and a few weeks later the now legendary composition was written.

Meaning of A Change Is Gonna Come

They say that the main idea of the future hit came to the singer in a dream. According to Peter Guralnik, the singer’s biographer, Cook composed it with surprising ease and speed:

There was less work than with any of his other songs. It almost scared him—as if the song was meant for someone else. He pulled it out of thin air and it came to him whole, despite the fact that in many ways it is probably his most difficult song.

Rolling stone

A Change Is Gonna Come was fundamentally different from Cook’s previous work. He managed to achieve significant popularity, which he now risked by releasing a song with obvious political overtones. Imagine what that could mean for a black singer in the sixties.

Once again, a word to Guralnik:

The first success came to him with the song You Send Me. I mean, it was his first cross-genre number released under his name, and he made it to the top of the pop charts, which was unheard of. As he developed as a pop artist, he brought more and more of the gospel he grew up with to his music, as well as a social awareness that was insightful. But in fact, A Change Is Gonna Come was something truly unusual for him in the sense that he, undoubtedly, for the first time directly and openly addressed social problems.

Rolling stone

Release and achievements

Cook entrusted the work on the orchestral arrangement of the composition to Rene Hall, who brilliantly coped with the task. The song was recorded on December 21, 1961, but it was released as a single only a year later, after the incident that led to the death of the performer. She found a place only on the back of the record with Shake on side A.

In addition, the third verse was cut in this version, which refers to racial segregation. The full version was offered on the Ain’t That Good News album.

The singer only performed A Change Is Gonna Come in public once, including it on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson in February 1964. Allegedly, Bobby Womack once told Sam that the song sounded “like death.” The musician replied that she evoked the same feelings in him, so he would not play her at concerts.

Cook’s murder came as a shock to black Americans. Although the song was rarely heard on the radio (fueled by litigation between labels), it became an anthem for human rights organizations fighting for the rights of African Americans.

Rolling Stone magazine ranked it number twelfth on their list of the five hundred greatest songs. It is also featured in the National Recording Registry of the Library of Congress and various authoritative rankings.

A Change Is Gonna Come Music Video

Next, I propose to watch the music video for the Sam Cooke song.

Cover versions of A Change Is Gonna Come

Even the most erudite music critic will not be able to remember all the famous performers who sang A Change Is Gonna Come. Many of them are listed in the track’s entry in the English-language Wikipedia.

Let’s hear how Otis Redding sang the legendary song.

Next is Aretha Franklin’s version of A Change Is Gonna Come.

A Change Is Gonna Come Lyrics by Sam Cooke

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I’ve been running ev’r since
It’s been a long time, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It’s been too hard living, but I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there, beyond the sky
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown
Somebody keep tellin’ me don’t hang around
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin’ me
Back down on my knees, oh

There have been times that I thought I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to carry on
It’s been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change is gonna come, oh yes it will

Lyrics A Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke Alternate

I was born by the river in a small tent
And since then I’ve been running somewhere like that river
For a long, long time we have been waiting for them,
But I know changes are coming, they’ll come for sure

Life has always been hard, but I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up in heaven
For a long, long time we have been waiting for them,
But I know changes are coming, they’ll come for sure

I go to the movies, I go downtown
Someone keeps telling me not to hang around here
For a long, long time we have been waiting for them,
But I know changes are coming, they’ll come for sure

Then I went to my brother
And said “Brother help me please”
But it all ended with him knocking me down
I’m on my knees

At times I thought I wouldn’t last long
But now I think I’ll last
For a long, long time we have been waiting for them,
But I know changes are coming, they’ll come for sure