Though released after his death in 1964, the song A Change is Gonna Come was born into the public hands and came to exemplify the 1960's Civil Rights Movement. Gaining popularity and critical acclaim not only from the masses but critics as well evident in it being #12 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Sam Cooke was a prominent figure in music and admired by both his black and white audience evident in the string of number one hits he achieved. He had an established connection with them. America knew Cooke for making sweet soulfly music, that is music from the heart. So when he recorded this song as his take on the state of Civil Rights, it would not have been difficult for him to be received positively and genuinely, especially by the black masses.
Cooke's credibility, being black was inborn. He knew and felt the state of affairs of black people during this period. He wrote the song and sang from the heart. Cooke died on December 11, 1964 at the Hacienda Motel in Los Angeles, California in what has been termed mysterious circumstances. It's shortly after this the song was released, on the momentum of his death people must have felt he was worth listening to, considering his unidentified cause of death. The community would have been mourning someone they held close to their hearts, a musician whom they related to. The message and content of the song would have added to this issue as it referred directly to the struggles blacks faced and gave them something to hold on to as hope. These coupling circumstances provided the path for the song's monumental impact on the Civil Rights Movement.
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I wonder how a song like the one linked below impacts your thoughts on Cooke's ethos.
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I think it supports my thought of him as a credible person and performer. Gospel roots and the ability to sing relatable and genuine gospel songs, is something that must be about passion, heart and spirit.
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