Music Notes – Sunday, January 18th:
This Sunday’s musician is UUCC Pianist Karin Tooley.
Centering Music: A Change Is Gonna Come – Cooke
Written and originally performed by Sam Cooke (1931-1964), “A Change Is Gonna Come” is one of the most significant songs in the history of American music. The song first appeared on Cooke’s 1964 album Ain’t That Good News, and was inspired by Cooke’s experiences as a person of color, especially a 1963 incident when he and his entourage were refused entry to a motel in Shreveport, Louisiana because of their race. The song’s original release only met with modest success, but “A Change Is Gonna Come” is now thought of as Cooke’s signature song, becoming an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement and meeting with near-universal acclaim by music critics and historians. In 2005, “A Change Is Gonna Come” was voted number 12 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine’s “500 Greatest Songs of All Time”, it made NPR’s list of “The 300 Most Important Songs Ever Recorded”, and the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress in 2007. The words “A change is gonna come” are inscribed on a wall of the Contemplative Court, a space for reflection in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture, and Cooke’s lyrics were famously quoted by Barack Obama in his acceptance speech after winning the U.S. Presidential Election in 2008. “A Change Is Gonna Come” has also been covered and sampled by many other artists, including Beyoncé, Lil Wayne, Céline Dion, and Seal.
Song: This Little Light of Mine – African American Spiritual
“This Little Light of Mine” is an African American gospel song whose origins are unknown. The song first began appearing in church and school settings during the 1920s and 1930s. Interestingly, the first few known instances of the song being performed are scattered around the United States, from Illinois to Texas to Montana to Missouri, so we cannot even say with any certainty in which city or region the song originated. Today, “This Little Light of Mine” is sung all over the world and is found in dozens of hymnals, including our own Singing the Living Tradition (#118).
Special Music: I Won’t Back Down – Petty and Lynne
Released in 1989, “I Won’t Back Down” was the lead single from Full Moon Fever, the debut solo album from American rock singer/songwriter/guitarist Tom Petty (1950-2017). The song was co-written by Petty along with Jeff Lynne (b. 1947), an English musician and producer who is best known as the frontman for the prog rock band ELO. “I Won’t Back Down” peaked at #12 on Billboard‘s Hot 100 and helped Full Moon Fever on its way to becoming Petty’s most successful album by far, certified 5x platinum (over 5 million units sold).
Offertory Music: Revolution – Lennon
“Revolution” was John Lennon’s response to the calls for uprising in the U.S. and Europe during the late 1960s. The song as we know it today was a revision of a version already recorded for The White Album, and it became the B side of the “Hey Jude” single. In Lennon’s own words: “I wanted to put out what I felt about revolution. I thought it was time we…spoke about it, the same as I thought it was about time we stopped not answering about the Vietnamese war when we were on tour with Brian Epstein and had to tell him, ‘We’re going to talk about the war this time, and we’re not going to just waffle.’ I wanted to say what I thought about revolution. I had been thinking about it up in the hills in India. I still had this ‘God will save us’ feeling about it, that it’s going to be all right. That’s why I did it: I wanted to talk, I wanted to say my piece about revolution. I wanted to tell you, or whoever listens, to communicate, to say ‘What do you say? This is what I say.” (John Lennon, interview with Rolling Stone, 1970.)
Song: We’ll Build a Land – McDade and Zanotti
“We’ll Build a Land” (Singing the Living Tradition #121) is one of the best-known and most beloved UU Hymns. The song was written by Carolyn McDade (b. 1935), a self-described songwriter, spiritual feminist, and social activist, who is also the composer of other UU favorites like “Spirit of Life”, “Come, Sing a Song with Me”, and “Rising Green”. The words, written by Barbara Zanotti, are paraphrased from the Old Testament books of Amos and Isaiah.
Postlude: La Marseillaise – Rouget de Lisle
The national anthem of France, “La Marseillaise” was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (1760-1836), who was an officer in the French revolutionary army at the time. The song acquired its nickname after it was sung by Fédérés (military volunteers) from Marseille marching to Paris to enlist in the French National Guard. “La Marseillaise” has become synonymous with revolution and resistance, and its iconic melody has been adapted by dozens of other composers and musicians, including Pyotr Tchaikovsky (The 1812 Overture) Richard Wagner (“Les deux grenadiers”), and The Beatles (“All You Need Is Love”).
-Mike Carney, UUCC Music Director