A Change Is Gonna Come -- Sam Cooke

I was born by the river in a little tent  And just like the river, I've been running ever since  It's been a long time coming  But I know a change is gonna come

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die I don't know what's up there beyond the sky  It's been a long time coming 

But I know a change is gonna come

 

I go to the movie, and I go downtown  Somebody keep telling me "Don't hang around"  It's been a long time coming  But I know a change is gonna come

Then I go to my brother and I say, "Brother, help me please"

But he winds up knocking me back down on my knees

 

There've been times that I've thought I couldn't last for long

But now I think I'm able to carry on  It's been a long time coming

But I know a change is gonna come                       

Cooke wrote this as a protest song to support the civil rights movement, as black Americans fought for equality. Up to this point, most of his songs were either touching ballads or lighthearted uptemo tunes ("Twistin' The Night Away"). When Cooke heard Bob Dylan's "Blowin' In The Wind," he became determined to write something similar - he couldn't believe Dylan's song wasn't written by a black man.                                                (songfacts) 


                      

 History of   civil rights movement