Aretha Franklin

Songwriter: Carole Bayer Sager Peter Allen Burt Bacharach

Producer: Aretha Franklin Arif Mardin

[Verse 1]
I would like to see a show of hands
Nothing concealed, roll up your sleeve
Nothing up my sleeve except my heart
And I believe we've come apart
I would like to see you play your cards
Reveal your hands and show your heart
Maybe we could get it back

[Chorus]
With truth and honesty that's what we need to hold on
To the good stuff we believe in
Before we land up loose and sad and free
Before we find that it's gone
We could pull it back together, truth and honesty
Open up your hands, show me your heart

[Verse 2]
Let's stay up till dawn and talk it out
Nothing concealed, no alibi, returning to light
Before we start, then all we do is fall apart
If I can see the sunlight in your eyes
Then maybe we all could shine, yeah
Maybe we could get it back, oh baby, yeah baby

[Chorus][x2]

[Outro]
Truth and honesty, you know what we need, sure enough within
To the good stuff, the good stuff baby
You got to be real, you got to be real, you got to be sugar
To the good stuff we believe in
You got to, you got to be real

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

Love All the Hurt Away

From the album

Love All the Hurt Away (1981)

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Love All the Hurt Away