Aretha Franklin

Released: May 27, 1976

Songwriter: Curtis Mayfield

Producer: Curtis Mayfield

[Intro]
Oh, oh, woo-hoo
Oh baby, hey baby, woo-hoo, woo, baby, mhm
Doo doo doo hoo ooh
Doo doo doo hoo hoo
Doo doo hoo hoo hoo hoo
Doo doo doo hoo, yeah

[Chorus]
If you look into your heart
With a positive mind
Take some inventory
Of your woman and your glory
Leave the bad things behind

[Verse 1]
Everybody's got a story, yes they do
About love and the good things
But all the spices of your life
You have got to pay the price
If you know what I mean, yeah

[Pre-Chorus]
I'm telling everybody I know
How a girl becomes so proud
When I thought that there was nothing left
I do believe I found myself
And I wanna give it to you, baby
Yeah, yeah, yeah baby

[Chorus]
So if you look into your heart
With a positive mind
Go and take some inventory
Of your woman and your glory
Leave the bad things behind

[Verse 2]
Ooh, I know my man, he really loves me
We don't have that every day
I know my man really needs me
And whatever he wanna do, I wanna do it with you, baby
Hey hey, yeah

[Bridge]
Doo doo doo hoo (Doo doo doo hoo)
Doo doo doo hoo hoo hoo
(Ah, that's it baby, that's it baby)
Doo doo doo hoo (Doo doo hoo hoo hoo hoo)
Doo doo doo goo (Doo doo hoo hoo)

[Outro]
Ah, I wouldn't lie
Love's not an easy game
And it's struggle and strain
Now that I see what he's given me
And whatever he wanna do, I wanna do it with you, baby
Hey baby, loving you more and more and more
And giving you all and all of me, yeah yeah
Mercy, baby
Loving you more, and more, and more
And giving you all and all of me, ooh baby
More, more
Mercy baby, mercy baby, mercy baby

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.

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