A Change is Gonna Come WEEK 7

         A Change is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke is a beautiful song that addresses the hardship and trials that Sam and possibly others have gone through and the hope they have that the future will be better because "Change is gonna come." During this time period, racial discrimination and poverty was still a huge challenge. There were colored and white bathrooms, schools, drinking fountains, and seats on the bus. Sam Cooke worked along side other civil rights leaders such as Muhammed Ali and Malcom X. 

        The start of the song, first details his life. He states he was "born by the river, in a little tent" and that he's been running just like the river ever since. He says its been too hard living but that he's afraid to die, meaning that his life has been so hard but he doesn't want to die just yet. He then talks about how he goes to the movies and downtown where people tell to "not hang around." This goes to show the tribulation him and others go through and the persecution that they've experienced in the difficult time. Finally he says that he asks a brother for help, brother meaning anyone close to him, and how he knocks him down back to his knees where he finishes that he knows change is gonna come. He uses only a little bit of lyric to show how much that black people have gone through being discriminated against.