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Sam Cooke Impact On Society

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Throughout history, music and society have always been conjointly related. Music has always had the principal potential to leave a massive impact on its audience. The role and power that musicians play in society is distinguishingly impressive. Through the concoction of strong lyrics, an amiable melody, and moving message, artists can use music to shape the world and mindsets of audiences everywhere. Many artists are aware of the grand impact they can make on the public and use their role in society to make a difference. Among these inimitable artists include Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, Sam Cooke, Billie Holiday, and The Beatles Now that America has progressed into a nation with such a diverse range of musical talent and products, it’s difficult …show more content…

Sam Cooke, being a victim of the Civil Rights repercussions himself, personally advocated for African American equality. Joining the trend of using music as a form of civil protest in the Civil Rights Movement, Cooke peacefully channeled his protest through meaningful lyrics and melodies. Inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Blowin' In The Wind”, the first bold step Cook took in response to the civil rights opposition was the release of his song “A Change is Gonna Come”. This song became the ultimate anthem of the whole entire civil rights movement. The song encases Cooke’s hopeful tune and peaceful melody that perfectly showcases the peaceful protest that surrounded the civil rights movement. The risk of releasing this song was huge, Cooke knew that by producing “A Change is Gonna Come” “he risked alienating his audience but he also knew it was the greatest thing he'd ever written” (Observing Change: Sam Cooke and the Civil Rights Movement). This song alone transformed Sam Cooke into one of the most important activist writers at the time of the Civil Rights Movement, because of the song’s grand power. The adorned song inspired the creation of many other songs that soon grew to become other anthems of the Civil Rights Movement. Sam Cooke’s musical style and works essentially shaped the music industry, and the Civil Rights Movement along with it. He will forever be honored as a phenomenal artist, and his music will always be remembered as a critical part of the Civil Rights Movement. Artists like Sam Cooke coerced a surge of artists to join the fight for civil

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Sam Cooke Joined Soul Stirrers at the age of fifteen and served as lead vocalist from 1950 to 1956. He recorded his first pop song, “Lovable.” Cooke’s first solo successes came on the Keen label, for which he recorded “You Send Me.” Sam Cooke came to be in the fifties and sixties. Cooke’s pure, elegant crooning was widely imitated, and both his voice and suave, sophisticated image influenced generations of soul men.

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Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. This song expresses his struggles “as a black man in 1960's American society" (Digication). This song is mournful yet optimistic at the same time. He writes about discrimination, but also how he believes that there will be change. The take away from this song is that during the Civil Rights Movement the black community could not live a life without fear because people were experiencing frequent racial discrimination and African Americans were scared that they would be lynched (ShieldSquare).

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Cooke’s song could be able to be considered as a viable protest song if it had some sense of direction. While criticizing the song, Trigg remarks that the lyrics move within a circular movement. He goes on to comment that at the end of the song Cooke “is in exactly the same position as he was at the beginning” (Trigg 993). The end goal for any protest song should be to end in a better place. The direction of the song is the antithesis of what the movement was trying to accomplish.

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This song was a protest song written by Cooke to support the civil rights movement, as black Americans fought for equality. After Cooke’s son drowned in a swimming pool in 1963, he started writing more introspective songs and took an interest in black history and politics. Some of his lyrics were inspired by real life situations. Cooke and some of his friends were arrested for disturbing the peace after they were denied rooms at a motel in Shreveport, Louisiana because they were black (Change Is Gonna Come by Sam Cooke Songfacts, n.d.). In his song, A Change in Gonna Come, Sam talks about his struggles living in the 1960’s.

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