Aretha Franklin

Released: May 27, 1976

Songwriter: Curtis Mayfield

Producer: Curtis Mayfield

[Intro]
Oh, oh
Oh-oh-oh, oh
Oh, yeah
Oh, yeah, yeah

[Refrain]
Woke up this mornin'
Lookin' there over the dawn of light
Things now for me are not what they used to be
I had many a friend
I had many a friend up until the end
But now everyone's gone and I'll live on
In a family

[Chorus]
Yeah, sister gets
Yeah, yeah she do
Sister gets
Sure do, yeah
Sister gets
Yeah
Sister gets

[Verse]
Oh, yeah
Now everyone knows
They know the way, the way that it goes
It's like girl lock it up
Go on and ra—raise a family
That's what they tell me
They tell me, they tell me
I may not be fit, no
But I ain't no, I ain't nobody's hypocrite, yeah
If I find me a good reason, it would be so, so good, pleasin'

[Chorus]
Sister gets
Yeah she do
Sister gets
Sure do
Sister gets
Yeah, huh
Sister gets
Yeah, she do

[Bridge]
Lord help me now
Yeah

[Chorus]
Sister gets
Yeah
Sister gets
Sure do (Yeah she do)
Sister gets
Yeah
Sure do [?], uh

[Refrain]
I woke up this mornin'
Lookin' there over the dawn of light
And things now for me are not what they used to be, yeah
I had many friends
Many friends up until the end
Oh, but everyone's gone and I'll live on
In a family

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

Sparkle

From the album

Sparkle (1976)

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