Unfortunately, Sam Cooke’s life was cut short on December 11, 1964 after an altercation at a Los Angeles motel. His homegoing services were star studded as Ray Charles came to sing at his funeral in LA. He had another service in his home of Chicago, Illinois. Sam Cooke had written “A Change Is Gonna Come” as a response to Bob Dylan’s “Blowin In the Wind”. The song was not released until a year after his death. When an artist dies and their music is released afterward, the masses tend to cling to it more. There is a certain interest that people take, probably due to the fact that they know they will never see the artist perform the song live, or get a chance to see an interviewed about the song. Plus, without Sam in the flesh, the only way fans could enjoy him was through the legacy of his music. The song was seen as extremely political. Cooke was heavily involved in propelling Black people whether it was socially or economically. Therefore, the song seemed fitting for what Black people had been going through during his lifetime. In analyzing the song, it is interesting that the song was released after his death because we don’t get the chance to ask questions. According to research by Christopher Trigg, “A Change Is Gonna Come” can be seen as a protest song because black people were indeed looking for a positive change in their circumstances. But in the song, we don’t really know what change to expect because there is no problem presented in the song. Therefore, audiences were left to interpret the change for themselves. Without the theme of change, would the song stand for what it currently stands for? The world may never know. The song does give people hope to expect whatever change they want to happen, and perhaps that is why the song has become such a classic.