Aretha Franklin

Songwriter: Sly Stone

Producer: Narada Michael Walden

[Intro]
I am everyday people, yeah yeah
Yo Gang, let’s kick the ballistics
Let’s party big time, oh
Get up everybody, Oh whoo yeah

[Verse 1]
Sometimes I'm right, I can be wrong
My own beliefs are in my song
A thinker, a banker, a drummer and then
Makes no difference what group I'm in

[Chorus]
I am everyday people, yeah yeah

[Verse 2]
There is a blue one (uh-huh) that don’t accept the green one (what you say)
Cracking on the fat one (uh-huh), like I’m about to be a skinny one (oh)
Different strokes for different folks, and so on and so
Scooby dooby doo-yaa-doo-yaa-doo
Oh sha sha - we got to live together

[Verse 3]
I am no better and neither are you
We’re basically the same whatever we do
First you love me and then you hate me, you think you know me and then
You can't figure out if (in-audible)

[Chorus]

[Verse 4]
There is a cone head (uh-huh) that don't accept the dome head (what you say)
Sisters and brothers (uh-huh) let's be cool with each other (oh)
Different strokes for different folks, and so on and so on
Etcetera, etcetera
Oh sha sha - we got to live together, yeah

[Bridge]
This track is killing me
Lord have mercy
Go go, go queen of soul [x4]

[Verse 5]
There is a yellow one (yellow one)
That ain't into the red one (red one)
We don't about the black one (black one)
Ha, What about white one y'all? (white one)
Different lengths don’t come with no dress
And so on and so on
Scooby dooby doo-bee-doo-yaa-doo

[Chorus][x2]

[Bridge]
Want to take you higher
Higher, Higher

[Chorus][x2]

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

What You See Is What You Sweat

From the album

What You See Is What You Sweat (1991)

Aretha Franklin popular songs

Everyday PeopleAretha Franklin

Aretha Franklin

What You See Is What You Sweat