Sam Cooke Poems

The lyrics, "It's been a long, long time coming / but I know, a change's gonna come" reflect the emotions of many blacks across the United States during the early years of the Civil Rights Movement. Although not the official and well-known anthem with power like "We Shall Overcome", "A Change Is Gonna Come" by Sam Cooke is equally as potent of a song. While both songs are inspired and modeled after traditional gospel structures, with a score that seems to belong in a sanctuary more than on a radio or in the streets, the lyrics add another political level. In the case of "A Change Is Gonna Come", it took centuries of pain and efforts to preserve African culture despite slavery and colonization before Sam Cooke had the background knowledge to
He used to be a sweet singer who used his talents for good, but many older black people saw his transition as a step towards the devil's music. Balancing the line and holding onto his gospel and his pop identities was something that Cooke worked hard to upkeep his whole life. Columnist Gene Santoro noted a perceived irony in his column in The Nation in 1991. To him, gospel has "fierce undercurrents of sexuality [that] are enough at times to make you want to tear somebody else's clothes off despite its apparent prudishness and sanctified lyrics." The structure of soul music comes from gospel, but the lyrics and the themes of the songs greatly differ, as soul often discusses life, love, and
In the Boston Globe in 1960, the Catholic Chaplain, Father Norman J. O'Connor CSP, wrote about the ties among gospel, jazz, and soul. He wrote, "soul music today in jazz is gospel revival songs." He continues to explain how the new soul music that was coming out at the time immediately reminded him of southern gospel songs because they both focus on the raw emotion that comes from celebrating with music. For Sam Cooke, that is exactly what music was about. Despite the many people coming after him because of his fall from grace, Sam Cooke’s resistance was apparent in all aspects of his life as he continued to further his career in the commercial side of the music industry and produce top pop