1/1/2006 - A Change is Gonna Come

Song: A Change is Gonna Come
Artist: Sam Cooke
Why this song is the current jam: Ok, let's do this. I hereby officially start out the new year with one of the greatest songs of all time. And because I love you so much, I give it to you times two. First, the original, the classical, the unsurpassable, the one and only Sam Cooke. This song ended up being released just after his death. It is really tragic (and astounding) to this of how young Sam Cooke was when he died (33). He could have done so much more, I mean we are talking about a guy who was essentially a comtemporary of Lou Rawls who is still around to this day. Imagine Sam Cooke still being around today. We would have better music. The same could be said for Otis Redding as well. He has been holdin it down here for the last few days, finishing 2005 strong for us, and he is gonna help us bring it in as well with his amazing live cover of this song. It has a slightly different energy, but man it is fuckin bad (meaning good). And his band is just fucking TUFF. Otis idolized Sam and he covered a lot of his songs and was really inspired by him in general. This song says so much through its words, and itsmusic, and of course, the voice of Sam Cooke. Just listen to how all of these elements come together to create such a grand picture of pain, struggle, and finally hope. This is the quintessential American song to me. As cynical as I am, this song brings me to a place that is not really reachable by that kind of cynicism, like it's beyond it - and I feel like the little spark inside of me that makes me alive gets shined up again and sparkles like new. I hope this song can make your spark sparkle too.