Aretha Franklin

Oh look, just look at me
I'm as helpless as a kitten up a tree
I feel like I'm clingin' to a cloud
I can' t understand
Why I get misty, holding your hand

Walk my way
And a thousand violins begin to play
Or is it the sound of your hello dear
That music I hear
Oh why I get misty, whenever you're near

You can see that you're leading me on?
But it's just, just what I want you to do
Can I help it, how hopelessly I'm lost
That's why I'm following you

And on my own, see on my very own
That I wander through this great big wide world all alone
Never knowing my right hand from my left
My hat from my glove
I'm too misty, too much in love
I say I'm just too misty
Very very very much in love

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

From the album

A Bit of Soul (1996)

Aretha Franklin popular songs

MistyAretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

A Bit of Soul