Respect (1967)

"Respect" is a song by American soul singer-songwriter Otis Redding, originally recorded and released by himself in 1965 as a single from his third album Otis Blue/Otis Redding Sings Soul. After it became a crossover hit for Redding, Aretha Franklin (the "Queen of Soul") in 1967 rearranged, rephrased, and covered it, resulting in her breakout hit and her signature song.

The music in the two versions is significantly different, while a few changes in the lyrics resulted in different narratives around the theme of human dignity that have been interpreted as commentaries on gender roles, relationships, and "respect".

Franklin's interpretation became a feminist anthem for the second-wave feminism movement in the 1970s. It has often been considered one of the best rhythm and blues songs of its era, earning Franklin two Grammy Awards in 1968 for "Best Rhythm and Blues Recording" and "Best Rhythm and Blues Solo Vocal Performance, Female", and being inducted in the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1987. In 2002, the Library of Congress honored Franklin's version by adding it to the National Recording Registry. It was placed number five on the 2004 version of Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, number one on the 2021 version of the list, and number four on its list of the 100 Best Protest Songs of All Time. It was also included in the list of Songs of the Century, by the Recording Industry of America and the National Endowment for the Arts.

Otis Redding original

Writing and recording

At first a ballad, "Respect" was brought to Redding by Earl "Speedo" Sims, who intended to record it with his band, the Singing Demons. Differing accounts exist as to who wrote the original version of the song. Bandleader Percy Welch said the writer was a guitarist at Bobby Smith's recording studio in Macon. Redding took Sims' version, rewrote the lyrics, and sped up the tempo. Sims went with the band to the Muscle Shoals studios, but was unable to produce a good version. Redding then decided to sing the song himself, to which Sims agreed. Redding also promised to credit Sims, but this never happened. Sims never pressed Redding on the issue, possibly because he himself had not really written it in the first place. Steve Cropper produced the session.

Analysis

According to Redding biographer Jonathan Gould, "the lyrics to 'Respect' paint a starkly unromantic picture of domestic relations", revolving around a "little girl" who is "sweeter than honey" and a man who will reward her with "all [his] money". This relationship dynamic is underscored musically by a near-comically persistent groove and "celebratory blaring of the horns, which seem to be heralding a carnal reunion of epic proportions". Redding's vocals are similarly aggressive, marked by "phrasing in staccato bursts" in delivering the verses – "What you want / Honey you got it / You can do me wrong honey / While I'm gone / All I'm asking is for a little respect when I come home" – accompanied by backing male vocals in the manner of a Greek chorus adding the refrain "Hey, hey hey!" In Gould's analysis, it has "an apparent modesty of [the song's] expectations: the way it takes a word that commonly refers to personal esteem and scales it down to serve as a euphemism for sexual reward", referring to "the 'street' meaning of 'respect', bound up with issues of deference and power." "But only up to a point", as Gould concludes of the song's finale: