GREATEST SONG EVER FUNDAMENTALS EXPLAINED

On Oct 8th, 1963, although on tour, Cooke and members of his entourage were arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, for disturbing the peace after they tried to sign up at a white motel — an incident mirrored within the song’s third verse. And Cooke’s mourning for his 18-month-aged son, Vincent, who drowned that June, resonates in the last verse: