Otis Redding's Respect: Song Analysis

When Otis Redding released his song “Respect” in 1965, little did he know the song would be labeled as one of the top five recordings of all time, and he would not be the artist credited for it. Otis Redding’s song called for respect, but in a way that it was an exchange of money from the working man and respect in return from the stay at home mom. A year later Aretha Franklin released a song with the same title, but reversed the message. Aretha’s version of the song demanded absolute respect from the man with nothing in return but the wife’s love. Aretha’s “Respect’” became an absolute hit and anthem in both the feminist and civil rights movements of the time. “Respect” was the much needed anthem for the movements during the late sixties and seventies, calling for respect and equal rights for women, and equality for all. Before the feminist movement was the suffrage movement. At the time of the

Racism had thrived for the longest time, filling America with violence and hate. The civil rights movement called for an end to segregation; for federal protection and legal recognition. Many walks and marches can be affiliated with the movement, for example the March on Washington. As well as leaders such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks were on the front line during this time, leading those to gain the basic right of sitting wherever they wanted on a bus. As stated in the website Cleveland, "The first wave of victories of the civil rights movement had happened. We (African Americans) were moving into different terrain, on the cusp of black power and a more Afrocentric way of thinking about African-American life. 'Respect' was leading the march” (Soeder). Not only was “Respect” the anthem for women but African Americans, especially African American women who were fighting against the prejudices that came with being colored, but also a