The widely accepted civil rights movement anthem “A Change is Gonna Come” by Sam Cooke is considered as the most influential work of his art. While listening to the song, it becomes inextricable to avoid the images of Barack Obama’s victory, as he becomes the first black President. It was a great example of how one’s unparalleled vision and hopeful tone could yield such a revolutionary result. Sam did not get to cherish the influence that his song created due to his early death. Moreover; his early death has enhanced the influence that this song created towards his community by receiving more recognition. This songwriting by Sam Cooke recognizes the emotional toll taken by decades of coercion and brutality, and then comforts you with his message of hope. Sam Cooke has laid the foundation for many of the R and B and Soul artists. He was one of the first ones to create a company that published his own music. Sam Cooke was part of a Gospel trio called the Soul Children. (McLeod 594). Then, he joined an established Gospel group, called the Soul…show more content… The rhythm in this song is consistently slow, which is why the melodic contour is not in leaps and it is in steps. The surface rhythm in the beginning of the song is faster than the beat, which is commonly seen in these types of music. Then, the beat catches up to the surface rhythm, and the rhythm becomes active. The stringed instruments are what picks up the activity of the surface rhythm. The French horn keeps up with the vocalists beat. The underlying pulse of this song is done in duple meter. However, since the tempo is in adagio, it forms into this slow duple meter. One might almost think that at this speed, it could be a triple meter. The time signature of this song is in 4/4 time. The secondary tempo is found to be in sostenuto, which the singer sustains the slowing of a tempo with a legato style. There are not many abrupt changes in the tempo in this