I’ve been doing a deep dive into the lyrics and the background of this mega-hit by the Queen of Soul. “Respect” has always been seen as a strong statement of a strong woman who’s insisting that her man treat her right. But is that view of the song really true? I have to admit that I was surprised when I actually looked at the words. It didn’t seem to me that the woman in the song was laying down a demand—more that she was begging for the bare minimum. (Her plea reminded me of something my mother said to me once about my room, “All I’m asking is that you at least quit throwing your clothes on the floor.”)
Here’s how the song begins:
All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you come home.
I ain’t gonna do you wrong while you’re gone,
I ain’t gonna do you wrong ’cause I don’t want to,
All I’m askin’ is for a little respect when you come home.
I’m about to give you all of my money . . .
(A line in a later verse says, “your kisses are sweeter than honey/And guess what? So is my money.”)
She does issue somewhat of a warning, though: One of these days her patience may wear out:
I get tired, keep on tryin’,
You’re runnin’ out of foolin’ and I ain’t lyin’.
When you come home,
Or you might walk in,
And find out I’m gone,
I got to have just a little respect.
It might be helpful to look at the original version of this song, since–another surprise to me—Aretha didn’t write the original. That came from rhythm and blues singer Otis Redding, but his version was of course written from a man’s point of view. Here’s where things get really interesting: he writes about a hard-working man who brings his paycheck home to his woman, asking only for—you guessed it—a little respect in return. And his version portrays much more willingness to put up with his beloved’s misbehavior than Aretha’s does for hers: she can “do me wrong, honey, if you wanna to/You can do me wrong honey, while I’m gone.” Aretha’s version, on the other hand, has the woman maintaining her own standards of behavior: “I ain’t gonna do you wrong ‘cause I don’t wanna.”
Once I got the transmission of the song straight in my mind it began to make more sense to me. Aretha (may I call her that?) decided to take Redding’s lyrics and flip them to fit a woman’s point of view, but a woman who, in the end, holds the reins—and the purse strings. Here’s a good summing-up from our estimable friend Wikipedia:
Franklin’s version of the song was released in 1967, amid notable societal changes; these included the Civil Rights Movement, the war in Vietnam, the Equal Rights Amendment, and the Black Panthers movement. Franklin’s message is conveyed as a demand for increased respect towards women during this time, many of whom were playing roles as civil rights activists without adequate recognition. When asked about her audacious stance amidst the feminist and Civil Rights Movement, Franklin told the Detroit Free Press, “I don’t think it’s bold at all. I think it’s quite natural that we all want respect—and should get it.”
So my initial impression upon reading the actual lyrics was overlaid with my 21st-century views of male/female relationships. I thought, ‘My goodness! She’s kind of making that man her gigolo! She’s paying him so he’ll come home to her!’ But in the 1960’s the song was seen as very “audacious,” as the above quotation shows.
I will just say here that the theme of a male’s willingness to do whatever it takes to make a woman notice/stay with him is a well-worn trope of song and story, up to and including the handing over of money. I’m not at all sure that having the woman do that instead of the man is any great leap forward in the relationship between the sexes, but feel free to ignore my carping and just enjoy the song.
Here’s the Otis Redding version. You’ll notice that the tune is also somewhat different from Aretha’s:
And here’s Aretha’s re-do:
And because I love Aretha Franklin’s music so much, and because I might not have an occasion again in these posts to write about her, here are some bonus videos. The first is the great, great scene from the movie The Blues Brothers in which she sings “Think”:
Here she is singing at Barack Obama’s inauguration ceremony. (She was quite put out later to find out that the other musicians had pre-recorded their performances, as she didn’t feel that she did a good job–ha!) Be sure to note the hat:
Here’s a choral version (straight from Edinburgh, that bastion of soul music):
And with that I guess I’d better stop!
© Debi Simons
