Music is a universal language. Black people have lent their voices to every ear while facing rampant racism and discrimination, especially during the Civil Rights Movement. It’s only fitting that we honor a song from that era for African-American Music Appreciation Month, especially one that had a significant societal and cultural impact. Our featured song is “A Change is Gonna Come” (1964) by Sam Cooke.
This song was almost never made. Over the course of his career, Cooke accomplished one of the hardest things possible for a Black singer of the time—he built a large white fanbase. He feared speaking out against racism through his music would lose the portion of his audience that he worked so hard to gain. However, all that changed after hearing “Blowin’ in the Wind” by Bob Dylan. Both surprised and pleased that a poignant song about race equality could come from a white artist, he added Dylan’s song to his set and decided to make his own, ashamed he hadn’t done so sooner.
“A Change is Gonna Come” was written using Cooke’s experiences and the state of the world around him. In 1963, he was denied reservations from the Holiday Inn despite calling ahead and booking the rooms. When he protested and insulted the Inn, he was later arrested for “disturbing the peace.” More inspiration to write the song came from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have a Dream speech that year.
The hopeful-yet-haunting lyrics have left their mark on the world ever since its release. Critical acclaim comes from various sources, including but not limited to:
- Ranking #12 in Rolling Stone magazine’s 500 Greatest Songs of All Time in 2004, and then jumping up to #3 in the 2021 edition.
- Included among NPR’s 300 songs deemed the most important ever recorded.
- NPR called the song “one of the most important songs of the civil rights era.”
- It was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, with the National Recording Registry calling it “culturally, historically, or aesthetically important.”
- The words “A change is gonna come” are on a wall of the Contemplative Court, a space for reflection in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture; the museum opened in 2016.
Unfortunately, Sam Cooke was shot and killed just two weeks before the song was released. While there’s still debate over the details of his death that was ruled a “justifiable homicide,” there’s no denying he put his heart and soul into creating an anthem of the civil rights movement. For this, we celebrate this stepping stone towards racial equality for African-American Music Appreciation Month. Just like the song says, “it’s been a long, long time coming” in this fight for equal rights. While the struggle has gotten easier in many ways for Black people since the 60s, there’s undoubtedly still work that needs to be done. In the meantime, we can at least have hope in the message of the song—that change is going to come.
What’s your favorite song by a Black artist? Do you have a favorite Black musician? Let us know @MahoganyXan!
penned by Diva Ferrell
