Aretha Franklin’s signature song was an anthem for the Civil Rights and Women’s Rights movements of the late 1960s.

Originally a minor hit by Otis Redding in 1965, Aretha’s “Respect” was given a new arrangement and new lyrics about a woman boldly demanding the respect of her man. Otis Redding’s original had a significantly different storyline: it’s sung from the perspective of a hard-working man demanding “respect” (a euphemism for sex) from his woman. Engineer Tom Dowd—who worked on both Redding’s version and Aretha’s—suggested covering the song, and created a new arrangement. Aretha and her sisters rewrote the lyrics, including the song’s memorable breakdown:

R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Find out what it means to me
R-E-S-P-E-C-T
Take care, TCB
Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me

“Respect” appeared on Aretha’s 11th album I Never Loved A Man The Way I Love You, her first for Atlantic Records. Its lyrics popularized several phrases, including “taking care of business” and “propers” (which later became “props,” one of the defining slang terms of the hip-hop era). “Sock it to me” became a major meme in the late ’60s—Richard Nixon even used it to help get elected President in 1968.

In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked “Respect” at #5 on their list of The 500 Greatest Songs of All-Time, but on the updated 2021 list, they gave Aretha more respect by moving “Respect” to #1. The single was certified gold and hit #1 on Billboard’s pop chart for two weeks in the summer of 1967, causing Rolling Stone to remark, “Aretha Franklin has shot out of nowhere and become Lady Soul.” In 2010, the song’s producer Jerry Wexler reflected on Aretha’s career:

“Respect” had the biggest impact, with overtones for the civil rights movement and gender equality. It was an appeal for dignity combined with a blatant lubricity. There are songs that are a call to action. There are love songs. There are sex songs. But it’s hard to think of another song where all those elements are combined.

Aretha’s version of “Respect” was featured on many “best of” lists, including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame’s list of the 500 Songs That Shaped Rock. It was also inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998 and the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2002. The song was covered by many artists – even Otis Redding incorporated elements from Aretha’s version into his live performances, and at the Monterey Pop Festival in the summer of 1967, Redding joked that “a friend of mine, this girl, she just took this song.”