Album: Ain’t That Good News
1964
. . .
Despite all of his talent, looks, charm and entrepreneurial acumen, Sam Cooke was still a Black man in America. I was going to hedge that by saying “mid-century America,” but c’mon, already: while things might have gotten better, they sure as shit haven’t gotten better enough, else we wouldn’t need mass marches trying to remind the white power structure that Black lives matter.
And so, every single day of his life, Sam Cooke had to do calculations that I can’t even imagine, though whenever I read something about in Peter Guralnick’s biography, how they’d have car trouble on the road or their hotel was booked, I thought “oh my god, that must have been so much worse than had it happened to me.”
I was born by the river
In a little tent
Oh, and just like the river, I’ve been runnin’
Ever sinceIt’s been a long
A long time comin’, but I know
A change gon’ come
Oh, yes it will
And in fact, it was that kind of racial incident that inspired “A Change is Gonna Come:” Sam got arrested for being pissed off because a hotel refused to let him and his entourage stay there.
It’s been too hard livin’
But I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there
Beyond the skyIt’s been a long
A long time comin’, but I know
A change gon’ come
Oh, yes it will
“A Change is Gonna Come” does the neat trick of sounding big and universal — all of those soaring strings and blasting horns — and intensely personal at the same time. And while it was famously inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind,” the inspiration was really all those two songs had in comment, as Dylan could only observe things that Cooke had actually lived.
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 comin’, but I know
A change gon’ come
Oh, yes it will
Sam Cooke really didn’t do pissed off — he was never going to sing “A Change is Gonna Come” like Johnny Rotten or even Mick Jagger — and one of the greatest things about the song was how calm and gorgeous his vocal is. The way wraps his voice around “I knoooo-ooooooha-whoooa” and the matter-of-fact way he tosses off “oh yes, it will” are both sides of his vocal genius. In fact, given Rene Hall’s ever-changing arrangement — musical symbolism! — Cooke’s vocals and melody were an anchor and a deflector. It’s the most gorgeous songs ever recorded about being completely pissed off.
Then I go to my brother
And I say, “Brother, help me please”
But he winds up
Knockin’ me
Back down on my knees
Lor’, there been time that I thought
I couldn’t last for long
But now I think I’m able to
Carry on
That said, “A Change is Gonna Come” is ultimately an optimistic song: I mean, Cooke doesn’t sing about how change is needed, or how change might come. Nope, at the end of each chorus, it’s right there: “a change gon’ come,” always punctuated by the “oh, yes it will.”. It’s become a standard now, of course, but Sam didn’t live long enough to see that happen. That said, while he– egged on by the evil Allen Klein — performed it live on the Tonight Show with Johnny Carson in February 1964, any buzz he would have gotten from it was wiped out by the Beatles debut on the Ed Sullivan show a couple days later. Oh, and NBC destroyed the tape of that show, as well.
And perhaps he was ambivalent about the song, both proud of its message and worried that message would impact his popularity. That Carson show was the only performance he ever did, and despite the fact that Ain’t It Good News was released in March 1964, he didn’t release it as a single until December. And even then, it was a double-A side with “Shake,” which peaked at #7 while “A Change is Gonna Come” stalled out at #31.
But, of course, “A Change is Gonna Come” became a classic, and will be sung as long we still need that change to come.
“A Change Is Gonna Come” Official Lyric Video
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