Soul Tracks

At the core of Obama's historic campaign is a single word, CHANGE. Obama's run for the nation's highest office has birthed a slew of songs from artists representing a wide range of musical genres. However, hip hop and soul artists are at the front of the Obama movement. But no song embodies the campaign of Obama quite like Sam Cooke's 1963 epic 'A Change Is Gonna Come.' Inspired by Bob Dylan's protest song "Blowing In The Wind," and two life-altering incidents; a conversation with sit-in demonstrators in Durham, North Carolina and the death of his infant son, Cooke composed the highly emotional tune. In the years that followed, "A Change Is Gonna Come" became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement. Today's Soul Tracks features Aretha's 1967 reading of the song. Aretha paid homage to her friend and musical icon on her '67 Atlantic debut, I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, considered to be one the greatest soul albums of all time. Forty one years after Aretha wrapped her gospel drenched vocals around the landmark song, I found myself anxiously anticipating a change. I know it's been a long, a long time coming but I know a CHANGE gonna come.