Ewa Maria Slaska (Wikipedia & Co)

I was born by the river,
in a little tent
Oh, and just like the river
I’ve been running ever since

It’s been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will

It’s been too hard living
But I’m afraid to die
‘Cause I don’t know what’s up there
Beyond the sky

It’s been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will

I go to the movie
And I go downtown
Somebody keep telling me
Don’t hang around

It’s been a long
A long time coming
But I know, a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say, brother, help me please
But he winds up, knockin’ me
Back down on my knees

Oh, there been times that I thought
I couldn’t last for long
But now I think
I’m able, to carry on

It’s been a long
A long time coming
But I know a change gonna come
Oh, yes it will

A Change Is Gonna Come was released as a single on December 22, 1964. Many people says it is a masterpiece. It was inspired by Malcom X, who encouraged and pushed Sam to write about black peoples struggles, Civil Rights Movement and African Americans. Very soon it became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. Now almost 60 years later, it is used to express needs and struggles of any other minority fighting for it’s rights. Even if you cann’t pretend, that women are a minority.

After listening to Bob Dylan‘s Blowin’ in the Wind, written 1963, Cooke, who was greatly moved, said, it is a shame, that such a poignant song about racism in America could come from someone who was not black. He immediately incorporated it into his repertoire. He was also influenced by Martin Luther King Jr’s I Have a Dream speech at the civil rights march on Washington that year. Toward the end of 1963, according to Cooke, the Change composition came to him in a dream.

The song is widely considered one of Cooke’s greatest and most influential compositions and has been voted among the greatest songs ever released by various publications. In 2007, the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, with the National Recording Registry In 2021 it appeared on Rolling Stone‘s list of 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, ranked at No. 3.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Change_Is_Gonna_Come

On December 11, 1964, not even two weeks before the song was released, Sam Cooke was fatally shot at a Los Angeles motel. He was 33.