Aretha Franklin

Strangle your darling with diamonds
Drown her in sparkling champagne
Dresses from all the sublime ones
Will drive the lady insane

Oh Mediterranean villa
Wears down resistance for life
And then shroud your endowed in Chinchilla
You’re just about free now, who she’s too weak to see now

So finish her off, tell her you love her
And that’s how to murder your wife
Smother that girl in all of that Chinchilla
You’re just about free now, who she's too weak to see now

So finish her off, tell her you love her
And that’s how to murder your wife

Just smother that girl down in Chinchilla
Ooh, and that’s how you bump off your wife
Just smother her down in those minks and Chinchilla
And that’s how you murder your wife

Aretha Franklin is both a 20th and 21st century musical and cultural icon known simply by her first Aretha. She is the reigning and undisputed “Queen Of Soul” with a legacy that spans five decades. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Aretha began her career singing gospel at her father, minister C. L. Franklin’s church as a child. In 1960, at the age of 18, Aretha embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records with modest success.

After moving to Atlantic Records in 1967, she released a steady string of US top ten hits through 1973 including “Spanish Harlem”, “Chain Of Fools”, “Baby I Love You”, “Since You’ve Been Gone”, “Daydreaming”, “The House That Jack Built”, “(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", ”Think“ and her first chart-topper “Respect” – a song that also won Aretha her first of 18 Grammys. During this time, several of her songs were also successful overseas.

By the mid-70s, Aretha’s commercial success waned and she left Atlantic for Clive Davis' Arista Records in 1980. Her 1982 song “Jump to It,” returned her to the top 40 for the first time in six years. 1985’s Who’s Zoomin' Who? got her back into the top 10 twice with its title track and “Freeway Of Love”. Four more songs reached the top 40 through 1986.

more tracks from the album

A Bit Of Soul (Unreleased LP)

From the album

A Bit Of Soul (Unreleased LP)

Aretha Franklin popular songs

How to Murder Your WifeAretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

A Bit Of Soul (Unreleased LP)