Above: Sam Cooke

First, perhaps the penultimate civil rights song of tribulation and hope: Sam Cooke’s “A Change Is Gonna Come”. (To download, right click and ‘Save As’)

Cooke wrote the song in 1963, reportedly after spending time with protesters, and inspired by Bob Dylan’s “Blowin’ in the Wind”, which Cooke also covered. Shortly after recording the track that would become a Civil Rights anthem, Cooke passed away in 1964.

Other reports speak to the song’s genesis: “Some of the lyrics were inspired by an incident where Cooke and some of his friends were arrested for disturbing the peace after they were denied rooms at a motel in Shreveport, Louisiana because they were black.”

Truly “A Change is Gonna Come” is one of the most poignant, strikingly beautiful, tragic yet hopeful songs ever recorded. The track was recently inducted in the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry, which maintains a list of sound recordings that “are culturally, historically, or aesthetically important, and/or inform or reflect life in the United States.”

For the second part of this musical observance of Martin Luther King we look to Dylan. But rather than a questioning song like “Blowin’ in the Wind,” we’ll choose one represented the true sickness of the time.

“The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll” is Dylan’s true-story portrait of 1963 murder. At a hotel ball the 24 year old William Zantzinger beat 51 year old Hattie Carroll to death with his his cane. She had 11 children. Zantzinger was sentenced to six months in the county jail and fined $500. The sentence was deferred six months to give Zantzinger time to harvest his tobacco crop.