"a moving, string-filled ‘message’ tune." Legacy "A Change Is Gonna Come" became an anthem for the Civil Rights Movement, and is widely considered one of Cooke's greatest compositions. Over the years, the song has garnered significant praise. In 2004, it was voted number 12 by representatives of the music industry and press in Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. It was then voted number 3 in Rolling Stone's 2021 edition of the list. The song was ranked number 3 in the webzine Pitchfork Media's The 200 Greatest Songs of the 60s. The song is also among 300 songs deemed the most important ever recorded by National Public Radio (NPR). Acclaimed Music ranked it as the 46th greatest song of all time, as well as the third best song of 1964. NPR called the song "one of the most important songs of the civil rights era." In 2007, the song was selected for preservation in the Library of Congress, with the National Recording Registry deeming the song "culturally, historically, or aesthetically important." In 2019, then-Shreveport mayor Adrian Perkins apologized to Cooke's family for the Shreveport event (see above under Background), and posthumously awarded Cooke the key to the city. The words “A change is gonna come” are on a wall of the Contemplative Court, a space for reflection in the Smithsonian's National Museum of African American History and Culture; the museum opened in 2016. In other media Otis Redding covered the song for his 1965 album Otis Blue, saying he wanted to "fill the silent void" created by Cooke's death. His version, retitled "Change Gonna Come," is a more restrained arrangement without any orchestration. The 5th Dimension covered it on their 1970 album Portrait, in a medley with the United States Declaration of Independence and People Got to Be Free, and released a popular single of the three songs. Baby Huey covered it in a posthumous album released in 1971. The song served as a sample for rappers Ghostface Killah (1996), Ja Rule (2003), Papoose (2006), Lil Wayne (2007) "Long Time Coming (remix)" Charles Hamilton, Asher Roth, B.o.B (2009), Nas's It Was Written album also features a similar opening as the song, On their album The Reunion hip-hop artists Capone-N-Noreaga used an excerpt from the song on the opening track which shares the same title as the Cooke original, and Bizzle (2011). After winning the 2008 United States