Lyrics of
A Change's Gonna Come

A Change Is Gonna Come was written by Sam Cooke, inspired both by his own personal struggle with the racial discrimination he faced throughout his life and by the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. The song was released in 1964, after Cookes death, and became an anthem of the Civil Rights Movement.

see chords
I was born by the river, in a little tent,
Oh and, just like that river, I've, been running, ever since.
It's been a long a long time coming, but I know, oh-oh-oh,
 A change is gonna come, oh, yes it will.

It's been too hard living, but I'm afraid to die,
 'Cos I don't know what's out there, beyond the sky.
It's been a long a long time coming, but I know, oh-oh-oh,
 A change is gonna come, oh, yes it will.

I go to the movie and I go downtown,
 Somebody keep telling me; don't, hang around.
It's been a long a long time coming, but I know, oh-oh-oh,
 A change is gonna come, oh, yes it will.

 Then I go to my brother,
 And I say; brother, help me please.
 But he winds up, knockin' me,
 Back down on my knees, oh 

There been times when I thought, I couldn't last for long,
 But now I think I'm able to, carry on.
It's been a long a long time coming, but I know, oh-oh-oh,
 A change is gonna come, oh, yes it will.