A Change Is Gonna Come — Sam Cooke (1964)

Sam Cooke's 'A Change Is Gonna Come,' released posthumously on December 22, 1964, became a civil rights cornerstone after Cooke was denied entry to a whites-only motel in 1963. Its orchestral arrangement by René Hall and Cooke's restrained vocal ache powered the song to #3 on the R&B chart, selling over 1 million copies. Martin Luther King Jr. quoted it in speeches, and Barack Obama cited it at his 2008 election victory. Although #1 Aretha Franklin's 'Respect' spent 8 weeks at #1 on R&B charts, Cooke's track reached #31 on the Hot 100, but its lyrical depth and cultural resonance inspire more than 20 subsequent cover versions, a wider influence than the average protest song.