THE GREATEST GUIDE TO GREATEST SONG EVER

On October 8th, 1963, though on tour, Cooke and users of his entourage had been arrested in Shreveport, Louisiana, for disturbing the peace once they tried to sign up in a white motel — an incident reflected while in the song’s 3rd verse. And Cooke’s mourning for his 18-month-aged son, Vincent, who drowned that June, resonates in the final ve