A Change Is Gonna Come Introduction

In a Nutshell

We'll be honest: 1964 America was a toughie. Sure, the British Invasion was rolling in, the government was coming to terms with the fact that cigarettes can kill you, and hitching a ride with a hippie van was a fair-minded Plan B at the time. But for people that couldn't ever escape their identities, a.k.a. African Americans, there were bigger problems that were resulting in violent ends. Medgar Evers had just been assassinated, the KKK bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church resulting in the death of four young girls, and peaceful protests were no longer peaceful. 

Along came Sam Cooke's celebrated 1964 song, "A Change Is Gonna Come." If you're down on your luck or feeling discouraged, don't despair. Things are about to turn for the better. At least, that's the message Cooke was sending with this track.

Picked up by the Civil Rights Movement as an anthem for change, this feat of songwriting acknowledges the emotional toll that can result from decades of oppression, and then lifts you up with its message of hope. After all, Martin Luther King, Jr. had just led the biggest civil rights march in history to date, was named Time magazine's Man of the Year, and President Lyndon B. Johnson would sign the Civil Rights Act in '64. 

The haunting orchestral background music sets the stage for a tale of pain and struggle that—we can't help believing, when we hear it from Cooke—can still have a happy ending.

We've all been there. The morning shower's cold, the coffee spills, and the demands of the day, no matter how small, seem to pile up. If you need a mid-day boost, crank Cooke's song. And if you're grappling with the big issues like civil rights activists were—because, these are still big issues—this song might help you have a little more faith in humanity that life can get better.

And if all that hasn't sold you on the power of this song, just sit back and listen to Cooke's rich voice. There's no denying it: the man can sing.

About the Song

Shmoop Connections

Has change come, in the nearly half-century since Cooke's hopeful proclamation? If the 2008 election of the first Black president, Barack Obama, is any indication, the United States, sure, is a different place. 

But that doesn't mean that Cooke's message has lost its relevance. Despite the successes of the Civil Rights Movement, the legacies of slavery and Jim Crow continue to shape America. While it's stimulating your musical taste buds, "A Change Is Gonna Come" just might give you an appetite for learning more about how people have overcome oppression in the past, and how members of all kinds of underprivileged minorities are coping, and unfortunately, still struggling with racism, today.

On the Charts

"A Change Is Gonna Come" peaked at #31 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in February 1965.

The song was listed as #12 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Pitchfork included "A Change Is Gonna Come" as the #3 song in their list of the 200 Greatest Songs of the 1960s.

The song was selected by the Library of Congress to be included in the National Recording Registry.

Sam Cooke was selected by Rolling Stone as the #4 artist on their list of the Greatest Singers of All Time.