A Change Is Gonna Come Sam Cooke Analysis

With his soulful voice and good looks, Sam Cooke is a great example of a musician who used their music to support the Civil Right Movement. He uses a wide selection of various types of instruments to portray the different emotion the movement came with. One of his most legendary songs for the movement, released in 1964 was “A Change Is Gonna Come”. The song voices hardships that black men experienced in America during the 60’s. Being that Cooke grew up with little money he adds his own struggle in the song, hence the “born by the river in a little tent” he stays confident that change is gonna come. His song talks about how African-Americans are not able to enjoy normal everyday things like walking down the street or going to the movies without that constant fear over their shoulders of getting in trouble. One of the main meanings of this song according to musiqology.com is how blacks are always trying to achieve equality with the whites, African-Americans are always shut down

The way he worked his emotion into his lyrics uplifted people’s spirits. This legendary song impacted a lot of people and was used for many events such as at Malcom X’s funeral, American Idol, and was used as a theme song for Barack Obama’s 2008 Presidential Campaign. Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come” continues to be an example of musical achievement. Diagnosed with glaucoma, leaving him completely blind at the age of 6 years old Ray Charles Robinson’s life was only beginning. Attending school at St. Augustine, a school for the blind and deaf Charles learned to play many instruments focusing more on the piano. From there on his career took off, his music was a success many loved him and all that he sang about. Charles played an active role in political and humanitarian cases and used his both his music and earnings from his music to support the Civil Rights