Kool FM’s Favourite Aretha Franklin Songs

This Kool FM Feature Is Presented With Paul Sadlon Motors The world lost a music […]

This Kool FM Feature Is Presented With Paul Sadlon Motors

The world lost a music legend this week. Aretha Franklin, passed away at her home in Detroit after a lengthy battle with pancreatic cancer.

You’d be hard pressed to find a musician or artist that the incomparable Ms. Franklin didn’t influence in some way. We here at Kool FM want to pay Aretha the R-E-S-P-E-C-T she deserves, so here are *some* of our favourite songs by the The Queen Of Soul (but really, every song she ever sang could have made this list)

Charlie – Natural Woman

My favourite Aretha song is “Natural Woman“. When I was in high school, there was an R&B group that absolutely nailed this song during an assembly and that’s where I first fell in love with it! Then watching Ariana Grande perform it on Jimmy Fallon, made me fall in love with the song all over again, but no one can come close to the original. The world needs more Arethas!

 

Lisa – A Rose Is Still A Rose

Aretha Franklin’s death has me delving into her life story. Her voice and her songs like “Natural Woman”, “Chain of Fools” and “Respect” have always been some of the background music in my life, but I never knew much about the Queen of Soul herself.
Reading her life story, I’ve realised that she had a rough a life and was taken advantage of especially in her early life. She got pregnant at 12 years old and gave birth to her first son at 13.  She named her son after her father and people wondered if her father had assaulted her. It wasn’t a crazy theory because her father had previously raped a 12 year old in his congregation who gave birth to a daughter.  Her father was not the father of her son, though, it was supposedly a boy she knew from school. She had her second son at the age of 14 by a different boy/man? male human.  Aretha Franklin married in 1961 at age 19 to a man who had a reputation as a pimp. She divorced Ted White in 1968, leaving a marriage that involved domestic violence.

 In light of this, I choose A Rose is Still a Rose, a song written and produced by Lauryn Hill. It means so much more when you know the way Franklin was used and abused from a young age.  

Leanne – I Say A Little Prayer For You

I once sang this song for a coffee house event when I was in high school. It was one of the most fun performances I have ever done, because everyone in the audience was singing along and knew every word. Not to mention, it always reminds me of the best scene in the Julia Robert’s movie ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’!! 

 

Jocelyn – Think

I used this song in a project in high school and have loved it ever since, but honestly the scene from The Blues Brothers where Aretha performs it is an absolute show-stealer!