Seal Sings Brilliant New Life Into Sam Cooke Classic

The Nigerian-born Seal, who was raised in Great Britain, is never more appealing than when lending his rich cigar-and-brandy timbre voice to lyrics charged with social, spiritual, and emotional urgency. A Change Is Gonna Come is loaded with such urgency and you feel every bit of it when Seal declares: "There've been times that I thought/ I couldn't last for long/ but now I think I'm able to carry on/ It's been a long , a long time coming/ but I know a change is gonna come/ oh yes it will." When you think about it, this particular song written by Cooke and sung by Seal is one of better musical combinations any lover of exceptional music could want.

Reportedly, Sam Cooke wrote A Change Is Gonna Come after hearing Bob Dylan's now classic tune, Blowin' In The Wind. Cooke felt that Dylan's song delivered a message about social and racial injustice that should have been composed by an African American because of the blatant system of Jim Crow racism prevalent in the United States at the time. Cooke's song did not match the impact of Dylan's during his lifetime, but following his death in 1964, it went on to stand as one of the outstanding anthems for the Civil Rights Movement.

It makes sense that Seal's recording of this song has been linked to Barack Obama's election as the 44th president of the United States and the first African-American to assume the office. But it may also be that Seal is singing to highlight the need for change in other parts of the world, including his own homeland. Whatever his motivation for choosing to record A Change Is Gonna Come, it has served him, his listening audience, and the legacy of Sam Cooke extremely well.

by Aberjhani

I was born by the river in a little tent
Oh and just like the river I've been running ever since
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

It's been too hard living but I'm afraid to die
Cause I don't know what's up there beyond the sky
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

I go to the movie and I go downtown somebody keep telling me don't hang around
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will

Then I go to my brother
And I say brother help me please
But he winds up knockin' me
Back down on my knees

Ohhhhhhhhh.....

There been times that I thought I couldn't last for long
But now I think I'm able to carry on
It's been a long, a long time coming
But I know a change gonna come, oh yes it will.

by Sam Cooke