Thursday, November 27, 2008

A Change is Gonna Come



This is modern version of the song, "A Change is Gonna Come", performed by the American singer, Seal. It is from his new album, Soul. Another American, Sam Cook, wrote this song in the sixties. According to Wikipedia, Cook was moved by Bob Dylan"s song, "Blowin' in the Wind", because of Dylan's empathy for Racism. In the same year, 1963, Cook wrote this song on a bus after attending a sit-in demonstration. Unfortunately, Sam Cook died the following year, but his song continues to grow in popularity.

In this song from the sixties, Cook wishes for change. There have been a lot of changes since the sixties. Do you think things would be easier for Cook in 2008? What are some changes you like and some changes you don't like? Give some examples of change and explain why you like or don't like these changes. You may give your opinion or add to ideas started by another person.



Gonna = going to
Blowin = Blowing
sixties = 1961 to 1969

Cultural Notes:
1. Bob Dylan is a singer/song writer who was popular in the sixties. He expressed the thoughts of a lot of young Americans that wanted freedom and peace.
2. Sit-ins were popular in the sixties. Many people would meet at a specific location. They would all sit on the ground to show they were unhappy with their government's decisions. For example, many young people did not believe in the Vietnam war. They were peaceful demonstrations, but sometimes the police ended them by arresting some of the demonstrators.
3. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia that you can use to look up information. You can find it on the Internet at www.wikipedia.org

8 comments:

Mary said...

Maybe things would be easier for cook in 2008,because obama was elected as a president in the USA in 2008. It meant that the rise of Black Power. I think it would be hard to write such kind of a song in 2008.

There are some changes in 1960s.In 1964,Civil Rights of Act was passed which outlawed discrimination not only in public housing,but also in employement on the basis of race,colour,religion,sex,or natinal origin.
However, there came a change of mood soon.
As liberal laws were resisted by white supremacists and actual benefits to the blacks were slow in coming,some black civil rights activists questioned the benefits of a racially integrated society and proclaimed the rise of Black Power.
In the 1960s feminism was reborn.Friedan's book inspired the founding in 1966 of the National Organization for Women(Now). A reform organization,NOW battled for equal rights in partnership with men.

The racial discrimination was outlawed on paper. This is what I like. People of different colors can sit in the same classroom and get education. No segregation is allowed. These are all positive changes.

I wish there would be a true equalty among people regardless of colour,sex,race,religion and national origin.

Zeming said...

I think things would be easier for Cook in 2008 because there is no more racism throughout American Society. Changes have come to America. The greatest change is that Barack Obama has won the US presidential election and will become the first African-American president in the country’s history. People who live in America have no longer been judged on their skin color but on their character content. Most African Americans’ dream has been turned into a reality through a long journey which coped with racial discrimination for more than forty years.
On the other side, everyone has to face the financial crisis that is the worst in a century. People become busier and busier because of short of hands in the company where they work with. The factories are depressed; so many people who work there are losing their jobs.
As our world changes, we experience success and defeat. We always be with hope and get stronger.

chao said...

I think it is easier for cook in 2008, because black American have Obama since this year.
Things change, people change. The biggest change is the coming of downturn in America. Lots of big companies go bankrupt, many people lost their jobs and endowment insurances. But we should have courage to face such a huge change even though we hate it. So we work harder. We wish our economy better.

susan said...

I wish things would be change
peaceful world in the future.No one
would be suffer from wars,terrors,and starvation.However,mamy innocent people died from the world war to Iraq,Afganistan until now on.Many people insist to change the world.
we need the strong economic without
chaos anymore.I believe that things
will be stable in the future because everything is rotated around the center of the rights.

liezel said...

In this song from sixties, Cook wishes for change. There have been a lot of changes since the sixties. I think things would be easier for Cook in 2008. Some changes I like is, I have notice that youger black, black under 30 years of age, have embraced post racialism. Minorities and whites in our generation have grow up with Tiger Woods and Mariah Carey famous people with extreamly blended racial heritage, or people like Jesica Alba, and Eve Longaria whose racial heritage are almost complete myteries.
Now we have Barak Obama, the President of the entire United State of America, who had a white mother, a Kenya father, a black wife. The greatest and most profound state of this election is that a majority of whites in this country help to elect a black man to the highest office in the world. Some say that they saw past race. Others say that they saw his race and accepting it, accepted him as a man: a black man . I feel like we are in this new climate of unity.

Anonymous said...

Many changes have occurred since 1960s. They are not only racial discrimination, but women discrimination too. It's not something unusual anymore when coloured people including women take key positions in running big companies or even governments or achieve success in their lives. For example, an American singer Whitney Houston, a television host and media mogul Winfrey Oprah, former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. So there are a lot of possibilities and chances for everybody today in spite of the colour of skin, belief, political views or social status. It's going to be even more easier and better after Barack Obama was elected the first African American President. So I can say that Cook was right and far-sighted when he sang that changes were going to come.

Anonymous said...

After 50 years of Sam Cook, we can see many changes as cook had wished. In my opinion things would be easier for cook in 2008, but we need to more changes. In spite of the fact that Barak Obama overcome as a president in USA, still many of the minorities must follow the wishes of the majority. Racial discrimination is common in the world. For Negroes, it will be a good situation to become propounded. They can express not only the real character but also the ability.

Irena said...

I think, in 2008 it is easier to write this song, because people more open-minded for changes. People except the differences of others and the world is getting smaller. After the financial crisis people understand that all the humanity is connected. If something happens in one country it can effect all of us.

People and experts understand that global crisis must be solved by working together in “ global team-work".