Certain songs are destined for greatness.
Such is the case with Otis Redding’s 1965 song “Respect,” originally sung from the perspective of a desperate hard-working man hoping to receive a little respect from his wife upon returning home after a grueling day on the job. The legendary soul singer released the hard-driving single on his 1965 third album, Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul to significant commercial success. But no one could have predicted what would come next.
Just two years later, a 24 year old Aretha Franklin, at a crossroads in her career, took the song “Respect” and turned it on its head. Suddenly a strong woman with a commanding voice was sending the same message, backed by female vocalists, with some structural and lyrical changes and punchy embellishments to drive it home.
“R-E-S-P-E-C-T find out what it means to me/R-E-S-P-E-C-T take care, TCB” ran the new mantra. Franklin, with the help of her two charismatic sisters, had gone ahead and flipped the script.
The new arrangement included the now-iconic spelling of the title, powerful backing vocals, the infectious repeated “sock it to me” line, and an entirely different attitude. Rather than simply covering Redding, Franklin turned his song into a forceful declaration from a woman demanding what she deserved.
“I heard Mr. Redding’s version of it. I just loved it. And I decided that I wanted to record it,” Franklin told NPR in a 2018 interview. “And my sister Carolyn and I got together. And I was living in a small apartment on the west side of Detroit and – a piano by the window, watching the cars go by. And we came up with that infamous line – the sock it to me line.”
“Some of the girls were saying that to the fellows – like sock it to me in this way, or sock it to me in that way…It was non-sexual, just a cliche line. But anyway, (laughing), picked it up, and it just kind of perpetuated itself and went on from there.”
She recorded her iconic version of “Respect” on February 14, 1967 and was just 25 when the track was released and hit number one later that spring. The fiery reimagining transformed a familiar song and turned it into an immediate feminist anthem. Aretha Franklin’s “Respect” took the world by storm.
Released as a single in April 1967, “Respect” soared to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, where it remained for two weeks. The massive success launched Franklin into a new echelon of mainstream fame. And the accolades kept coming.
“Respect” earned Franklin the first two Grammy Awards of her career, for Best Rhythm & Blues Recording and Best Rhythm & Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female. Decades later, the recording was among the first selected for the Library of Congress’ National Recording Registry in 2002.
But the significance of “Respect” ultimately extended far beyond awards and chart positions.
Released during the Civil Rights Movement and the emerging women’s liberation movement, Franklin’s “Respect” took on a broader cultural meaning, becoming an anthem of dignity, equality and empowerment. But Franklin didn’t see herself as a feminist heroine, nor did she intend for the song to become an emblem of the feminist movement.
“In later times, it was picked up as a battle cry by the civil rights movement,” said Franklin. “But when I recorded it, it was pretty much a male-female kind of thing and more in a general sense from person to person. I’m going to give you respect, and I’d like to have that respect back – or I expect respect to be given back.”
“I don’t think I was a catalyst for the women’s movement,” she told Rolling Stone in 2014. “Sorry. But if I were? So much the better!”
Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987, and “Respect” remains inextricably tied to her extraordinary legacy. The version of Redding’s song that Franklin made unmistakably her own in 1967 cemented her as the Queen of Soul and ultimately became one of the most powerful anthems of the era.
Nearly six decades later, the song still demands exactly what Franklin asked for in 1967—and generations of listeners are still dancing and singing along.
Related: 1965 Folk Rock Song, With 21-Year-Old Singer From New York City, Became a Major Hit
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