“A change is gonna come” by Sam Cooke (Essay Sample)

Name Instructor Course Date “A change is gonna come” by Sam Cooke Music represents the cultural, social and economical environments. The message and style of music defines different aspects within which people interpret and relate. The essence of music is to diversify and represent the diversity in style and theme. Current events could be going against expectation, the plans laid down would fail due to unsupportive environment in this case motivation remains the reason as to what a person surges forward. In the song “A change is gonna come” by Sam Cooke, the singer expresses optimism on future, he manages to achieve this by utilizing figurative language, irony and symbolism to communicate to the audience. The singer compares his life to a river “…like the river I've been running…” (Cooke 2). The river represents a life with a defined path. The comparison to the river reflects on how the persona defines his path. The river always flows in a specific way. Despite the rigid terrains, the river always flow and reach its destination. In the song, the use of river to define his life explores how figurative languages effectively create a musical element. The repetition of the word river in the first stanza creates a rhythm. Defining his earlier life and comparing his path to a river is a deliberate attempt to create a rhyming scheme. Exploring the musical elements enhanced by the repetition, is clear that the singer summarizes his life and struggle by likening them to a river. The audience is able to compare a river and draw conclusion based on their interpretations. The river is a water source; water is an important element in human beings regardless of their economic, social and political status. The author chooses the river to represent the significant steps taken from his childhood to the adult life, the likening of his life to a river reflects on the compulsory steps to be taken before achieving his desired goals. The source of the river represent hope the path represents a plan while the river’s end represents achievement triggered by life struggles. The smiley is used to shorten the long life history and effectively is used to create rhythm in the music. The songwriter uses satire to explore the social and political situation during the period. The term tent “…born by … in a little tent...” (1/2) is used to criticize the social class and the nature of the country during his childhood. The low living standards are criticized by the singer and use the word tent to explore the tense and low living standards. To mock the relationship between him and the immediate surrounding the singer uses the term brother sarcastically to explore the expectation of the social environments versus the reality. The singer explains how his own brother was unable to assist during his tribulation. The social expectation is that humans relate to each other based on the birth factor and similarities in different environments, those close to each other assist each other in events the other party is disadvantaged. The social setting is reacted to imply that the closeness of individual will define if one is in a position to assist or decline help calls. In the song the more likely person to offer, help declines the personas plead. The song represent the social interdependence it a satirical manner. The ‘tent’ and the ‘brother’ represent the normal expectations within an environment. the social setting in the song explore how of different classes exist and the brother who is expected to offer help and aid the social disadvantages fails to do so living the persona with no choice but to struggle by himself just like the river at the beginning of the song. In an effort to explore his life and environment, the singer uses symbolism. The movie house is used symbolical to represent the racial and social discriminations. A public joint has been addresses as a place where the persona is discriminated due to his social composition. The tent at the begging of the song is symbolic to represent his fragile childhood. A tent near a river is more prone to disaster; the tenet near the river is symbolic used to define the social environment within which the persona lived. The brother in the song is symbolic as he is used to represent the similar cultures, environment and beliefs. The social setting is likened to a brother who d...