Aretha Franklin Finally Gets Credit for the Term She Popularized
The passing of Aretha Franklin earlier this month set off a rolling celebration of her deep and lasting contributions to American popular music. While the breadth of her life’s work is tremendous, one song more than any other emblematizes her cultural impact: “Respect,” the Queen of Soul’s smash hit from 1967.
By reworking the lyrics and structure of Otis Redding’s original version, Franklin transformed the song into an enduring anthem, its straightforward demand for “a little respect” resonating as both a potent statement of feminist empowerment and a civil-rights cri de coeur. Less remarked upon, however, is the influence that the song has had on the English language.
Though Franklin never received a songwriting credit, the changes she made to Redding’s lyrics (worked out with her sisters and back-up singers Erma
