Sunday 30 May 2010

A Change is Gonna Come


I'm slightly obsessively playing this song right now, after hearing James Taylor cover it on an episode of the West Wing, so I thought I should share it.

Sam Cooke is considered one of the pioneers of soul music. He founded his own record label and publishing company as part of his career as a singer and composer, though it was cut tragically short as Cooke was shot dead in 1964 at the age of 33. A Change is Gonna Come was released posthumously and reflects the affect of the death of his 18-month old son, and the racial discrimination (and arrest) he and his band experienced whilst trying to register at a 'whites only' motel in Louisiana. Both experiences leading to the weary tone to the song which is beautiful and heartbreaking and finally allowed Cooke to address the issue of racial discrimination which he avoided so not to destroy his image and alienate his fans.

The James Taylor version is lovely, but the original is epic.
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Listening: Sam Cooke - A Change is Gonna Come

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Classic song. Classic artist. Thanks for remembering him here.

Erik Greene
Author, "Our Uncle Sam: The Sam Cooke Story From His Family's Perspective"
www.OurUncleSam.com

Emily Boyd said...

It is a wonderful, wonderful song, from a wonderful artist.

And thank you so much for taking the time to comment on my blog. I was flabbergasted when I saw one of his relatives took the time to comment.

Emily

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