Bob Dylan and Sam Cooke were influential artists during the 1960s due to the protest songs they produced. One of Dylan’s was A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall and was released in 1963 whereas one of Sam Cooke’s was A Change Is Gonna Come which was released in 1964. A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall is similar to a ballad because it’s a song with a simple meter and rhyme scheme and also contains repetitive refrains. A Change Is Gonna Come doesn’t follow any poetic structure the lyrics are written while listening to the music. To compare both protest songs the themes and messages, the use of poetic techniques and the language patterns will be explored. The subject of A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall is that it’s about nuclear war, social injustice, pollution, politics…show more content… A Hard Rains A-Gonna Fall is a sad and angry song because he says ‘ I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children’, ‘ where the pellets of poison are flooding their waters’ and ‘ I met a young child beside a dead pony’. Lines like these come across as being full of hatred and sadness. The main themes are nuclear war, politics, social injustice, environment and suffering and these all help portray the message that if our world keeps going the way it’s going there will be consequences which refers to the hard rain falling. Also, Bob Dylan had guilt and fear in leaving a dangerous and damaged world to the next generation he incorporated this in many of his songs. However, A Change Is Going To Come is about supporting civil rights movement, as the black Americans fought for equality. The main theme in this song is equality because all Sam Cooke wanted was to be recognised as an equal in the world. The predominating mood is persistence because by writing this song he is motivating and encouraging all the citizens who aren’t treated as equals that one day a change is gonna come. Sam Cooke gave hope to the people that could apprehend that life was soon going to get better. Both songs have powerful messages behind them and that’s why they are classified as two of the best protest