Music has a spread and influence in the modern age far beyond anything imagined by early rock and rollers and megastar cabaret crooners. It is ubiquitous, far-reaching and, for many people, massively important. And, once you have such a robust distribution system, it makes sense to use it to deliver something worthwhile. Music as entertainment is fine, but whilst you have people’s attention, why not have something to say too?
To the best of my understanding, this is the attitude and opinion held by Jennifer Harper, and “Change Is Coming” is the perfect example of someone with something powerful and poignant to say and do so in a way that doesn’t get in the way of them making great music too. The best of both worlds, if ever there was.
“Change Is Coming” was born, as many cool things were, during the lockdown, when people had time to slow down, stop and think, perhaps even forced to. Such breathing space and time for reflection were necessary, and many new ideas were spawned, or, in the case of this song, timeless ideas found new outlets.
The simple beats that the song drives on are compelling, tribalistic, spacious, and largely unadorned, allowing the voice, and hence the words, to sit front and centre. And if the music is all the more powerful for its simplicity, the message, too, is all the more potent for its directness.
“Change is Coming”, it says. The change she speaks of is both a personal one and, more specifically, a change for women in general, a call for unity, empathy, freedom, and equality. And, in a broader sense, a change for the world as a whole and thoughts are turned to a better world for everyone.
The song is the perfect rallying cry for much needed change. The ideal sonic barrier against the dark clouds that seem to be gathering with ever more intensity around us. And also a reminder that, although these are issues that have been raised and discussed seemingly forever, has anything changed that much?
“Change Is Coming” is a great song musically, but it is crucial lyrically. At its heart is a personal, intimate idea, but it is also, in a broader sense, a universally relatable idea and one that is long overdue. Change Is coming, and I, for one, believe her.
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