Saturday, March 22, 2008

Shawn B. (11), Rin M. (11), Anna Lee B. (26), Allison N. (50), Steven R. (50), Drew A. (60), Aaron B. (2), Brett M. (2), Randi H. (4)

26 comments:

JShoe said...

Otis Redding/Aretha Franklin – “Respect” (1967)

(oo) What you want
(oo) Baby, I got
(oo) What you need
(oo) Do you know I got it?
(oo) All I'm askin'
(oo) Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Hey baby (just a little bit) when you get home
(just a little bit) mister (just a little bit)

I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone
Ain't gonna do you wrong (oo) 'cause I don't wanna (oo)
All I'm askin' (oo)
Is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)
Baby (just a little bit) when you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

I'm about to give you all of my money
And all I'm askin' in return, honey
Is to give me my profits
When you get home (just a, just a, just a, just a)
Yeah baby (just a, just a, just a, just a)
When you get home (just a little bit)
Yeah (just a little bit)

Ooo, your kisses (oo)
Sweeter than honey (oo)
And guess what? (oo)
So is my money (oo)
All I want you to do (oo) for me
Is give it to me when you get home (re, re, re ,re)
Yeah baby (re, re, re ,re)
Whip it to me (respect, just a little bit)
When you get home, now (just a little bit)

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

Oh (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
A little respect (sock it to me, sock it to me,
sock it to me, sock it to me)
Whoa, babe (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)
I get tired (just a little bit)
Keep on tryin' (just a little bit)
You're runnin' out of foolin' (just a little bit)
And I ain't lyin' (just a little bit)
(re, re, re, re) 'spect
When you come home (re, re, re ,re)
Or you might walk in (respect, just a little bit)
And find out I'm gone (just a little bit)
I got to have (just a little bit)
A little respect (just a little bit)

Shawn said...

Hey everyone. My name is Shawn Boyd, and just to let you know, I am a girl. I go to Clemson University and I am majoring in business.

I really like this song and think it is quite powerful. Even by just looking at the title, "Respect", one can see that the person singing this song has a message to send. The fact that a woman sings it makes it even better. I think it makes it more powerful and shows that she is willing to fight for what she wants.

I think that this song is about exactly what the title says: Respect. She wants the man who she is singing about to respect her just like she respects him. She says, "I ain't gonna do you wrong while you're gone..." and she wants him to do the same. And she knows that if she doesn't get that respect, then she deserves better than him.

I feel that this song is a very strong one, mostly for woman. All women deserve to be treated with respect and i think that is what Aretha Franklin is trying to portray here. She wants women to stick up for themselves and demand that they get the respect and love that they deserve.

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone! My name is Allison Ng and I am a Clemson University student. I think that this song is really sad. The situation described in this song is very common among women. I’ve heard many stories from women that can relate to this song. In this song, the man is using the woman for her money and she loves him so much that even though she knows his intentions, she is still with him. All she wants from him is respect.
I agree with Shawn that this is a quite powerful song, but I feel like a woman should not be begging for respect. If she feels like she is not treated fairly in a relationship then get out of it. Men should know how to treat a women and if he doesn’t then forget him. This song is powerful, yet sad. Sad that women these days still need to ask for respect as if no one else would give us that respect.

- Allison N.

Anonymous said...

Hey group! My name is Randi Hunton, frosh at USC Upstate and changing my major from education to sociology.

I think this song is very representative of the role of women that was developing in the 60's. Not only was the 60's a time of rebellion and racial equality but women were also searching for a more equal role among a male dominated world.

I think that Aretha really stepped out of her "role" of what a woman should be at that time and asserted her view of women vs. man. In a sense, she put men in their places. It was rare during that time to see independent women; I think this song is one of the first independent woman anthems.

Drew Andrews said...

Hey group. My name is Drew Andrews, and I am a freshman at Clemson University studying some form of business that I have not figured out yet.
I think that this song is about women trying to become more equal to men at home and out in the world. The woman in the song clearly has money that the man wants because she says that her money is “Sweeter than honey.” But she has not gained his respect, and that seems to be all she really wants out of this relationship. During the 1960s, there were several women in the position of having men not treat them well, and I agree with Randi when he said that this was one of the first songs that those women could relate to. Respect is something that should be given to all women (and men) but it should not have to be asked for.
-Drew Andrews-

Marin said...

Hey guys! My name is Rin, I'm from Clemson and I'm a Pre-business major.

I think the song embodies a little of what each of you said, but I think the main point has to do with (and this goes along with Randi most), that prior to the World Wars, most women weren't working. After the draft was instated the jobs of men going to war were being filled by women. I think the song ask for respect from men in all forms, but as prevelant to the time period, maybe Franklin wanted women to be respected for their role in the workplace, their ability to be more than just a housewife, and the fact that women were capable of living comfortably without needing a man.

:)

Rin M. (11)

Anonymous said...

My name is Steven Roberts, I am a freshman male at Clemson. My major is in biology. I'd like to give a male perspective on “Respect.” Women during this time had just began being respected in the work place, and even listened to and taken seriously in debates and important conversations. This seems like it should be a song about how women should be respected, but if you read the lyrics, it sounds like she might be buying her man’s love, because it says mentions many times about her giving him all her money.
Don't get me wrong, this song is powerful, however shouldn't she be using her time to earn her respect? Instead of wasting her time writing a song about how she wants it?
However, a little unknown fact about this song is that it is almost an exact duplicate of Otis Redding's "Respect,” written over a year before Aretha came out with “her” version. Otis original “Respect” is about a man writing how he wants a woman's respect. In this song he talks about his woman taking all of his money, something that still happens today. Aretha changes it to the man taking her money, but in those times, a man that only let the woman work would be totally shunned and disrespected. Plus, a woman didn’t make nearly as much as men because much of the labor was too hard for them. There is no doubt that this song, even though it technically was stolen from a male, a huge breakthrough for women.
Steven Roberts

Anna Lee said...

Hello group my name is Anna Lee Bradley. I am a freshmen studying chemistry at Clemson University.

This song is one of the song’s from the 1970’s that still relates to present time. Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin’s song “Respect” represents women equality through demanding certain things like respect. Lyrics like “All I’m askin’ (oo) is for a little respect when you come home (just a little bit)” show that women are standing there ground and demanding some respect. Most women up until this time did what was the norm, and let their man tell them what to do and when to do it. Aretha sings for all the women who are not going to take it anymore.

In the beginning of the song Aretha says “I’m about to give you all my money and all I’m askin’ in return, honey is to give me my profits.” Aretha says this as to say all I want from you is your loving. She follows up that statement with the lyrics “Ooo, your kisses (oo). Sweeter than honey (oo). And guess what? So is my money”. The ending lyrics give me the assumption that the girl realized she was more important than her man, so she is demanding some respect or she will leave. The song is a miniscule look into the women’s rights revolution that is going on. Anna Lee B. (26)

Anonymous said...

Hello everyone! This is Allison Ng, again. I’ve read all the comments from all students and I feel like everyone is pretty much on the same page.

I agree with some classmates, and disagree with some. I agree with everyone that this is a powerful song; however, I disagree that this song is a symbol for women’s right or women reaching out to inequality.

First, I feel like this is a song about relationship. It has nothing to do with women’s right or inequality. Second, Aretha did not discuss in her song that she waned to go out and work, or she wanted to be treated the same as men. She is not searching for equality. She wants respect. For example, one of our classmates commented that this is a remake of a man’s song. By changing a few lyrics to transform the song into a woman’s song, it doesn’t make it a song for women’s right or inequality. A man sings the original song, does this mean that he was searching for his rights or reaching out to inequality? Not quite. That’s just my opinion.

- Allison N.

Anonymous said...

hi,

My name is brett and I'm an engineer major at USC upstate. Sorry for being late on this and i don't even know if this one will count but what can i say I forgot about it.

This is a powerful song with a powerful message that is still being heard even today. This song could be interperted in many diffrent ways, but i think it's a message to all men that they should respect the girlfriends or wives and treat them like they themselves want to be treated. This was a time when women were pushing for equal rights and that is the message Aretha is trying to push.

Anonymous said...

Hello, All! After reading over everyone's comments I've got a couple off-topic comments: one) I'm a female for those of you who may not have understood that from the beginning ;),and 2) am I the only one who would like to discuss something other than this one song that already is way over-played even in today's times.

Ok, so now back to the song. As I look closer at some of the lyrics, I'm starting to have different opinions about it. Like the one line "I'm about to give you all my money", is she saying they're about to get married and thus, have joint incomes? And if so, she's basically saying to her man she's going to need more respect from him. Or am I reading way too far into it? lol Also, another way you could interpret this song is in a more sexual aspect. Like when she says "All I'm askin is for a little respect when you come home"; maybe she is implying that after cleaning house/runnning errands all day without seeing or talking to him, maybe what she wants is a little affection when he comes home....or "respect". Just some different ways to look at it ;)

-Randi H.

Anonymous said...

Yea i think this song is asking for a little bit too much during this time period. I'm not trying to a racist or a sexist but i'm going to throw it out there. Aretha was a black woman. Probably the hardest thing to be back in those times. She's asking for a lot from her man, even giving him an ultimatum saying she'd leave if she doesn't get it.The man was probably doing the best he could with what he had to work with.

Anonymous said...

Hey y’all it’s me Anna Lee. I would like to say that I appreciated reading all y’alls post. They definitely helped me grasp different points of view of the lyrics.

Brett’s post made me think about the song from the guys point o view. I didn’t really think about what men thought about the song when it came out, but now I do. I would hope that males got something from the song. I know the song mainly represents woman power but if society as a whole can learn from it then it would create a happier environment.

Even though I think differently than Allison Ng I understand where she is coming from. Most songs are written about relationships and I agree that “Respect” could be one of those. It’s hard though in my opinion to see how it could not be at all involved with women rights. Aretha is clearly stating that as a woman (let alone a black woman) that she deserves and will demand respect. By coming out to her significant other she is standing up for woman equality. It might be small, but she is still standing for her rights as a female, which in return benefits the female movement.
anna lee b. (26)

Shawn said...

After reading all of the previous posts, my views of this song have changed a little bit. I still feel that this song is about a woman demanding she get respect from a man. However, i agree with Allison. Even though this song is a very powerful one and a big step for women, she should not have to demand respect from a man; men should respect women anyways. This was always during a time when women were coming out in society as being dependent. I also agree with the second post that Randi left. She said that maybe the song has a more sexual aspect to it. I think that she might be refuring to this in her song. Yes, she wants respect from her man, but she always wants his love and attention. I think that this song can be interpreted in many ways and it all depends on how you look at it.

Marin said...

I'm going to have to say that I'm still in disagreement with Allison N. And at the same time I think that she's right by saying it's an opinion thing. Maybe Aretha redid the song because of the message behind it. Maybe she thought it'd empower women to demand the respect that we deserve.

Steven, I think you're alone on this one. I agree that men probably did everything they could as far as providing for their families, but do I think that women were always respected? Not at all.

Have a good weekend everyone!

arsenih said...

Hello everyone,
My name is Arsenio Hanna and I am an engineering major at Clemson University. After listening to the song "Respect" by Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin. I think that they are speaking in reference of the soldiers that went away in the war and hoping that the have a successful journey in the war an that when they do come home that they won't lack the respect that they once had before they left. Hoping that there tax dollars don't go to waste. Asking that after the war is over that all of the money that was spent on the war comes back with some type of profit. Also, that the soldiers come back with more respect than when they left.

Drew Andrews said...

Hey guys. I agree with Shawn that my views have changed a little bit since reading everyone’s posts, but I still think the song is about women fighting for respect from all men during a difficult time for them. I agree with Randi about both of the possibilities that it could be that they are about to get married and that is why she talks about her money, and that it could be her wanting a lot of affection when the man gets home, as well as respect. I also agree with Anna Lee that even though it could be about her relationship, it also has to be about women’s rights.
I think the way it is listened to today, compared to how it was heard when it came out, has probably changed. Now, it is not uncommon to hear it in a place where people are gathered and having fun, and most people do not think about how big it was in the 60s.
-Drew Andrews-60

Anonymous said...

Women being disrespected was a problem that went back thousands of years. It goes back to when cave men would club cave women and drag them around by their hair. I took a class in high school that talked about this stuff. The teacher told us that it wasn't a thing of women being weaker or more sensitive than men. It's all biblical he said. You can see in Egyptian culture, they said that a female goddess (Naunet was her name) had created the world, and Isis, another female was the protector. These were two of the main religious figures in their religion, and they had a female ruler, Cleopatra. However, in most of today's monotheistic societies, there is one dominant male God. My teacher said because of this most people believe that's why women are sometimes treated less respected than men. He said this is probably why we never have (and never will) have a female president. So really the respect that Aretha got then was probably very good compared to what some have had and she should not be so selfish, because it's a biblical problem that women are not equal, or at least that's my opinion after listening to an educated teacher.

Anonymous said...

Hello – It’s Anna Lee, I just wanted to make a few comments about what I have read. I think that most of us agree that the song “Respect” is backed by a strong message for women. I found another song that represents a similar message as “Respect”. Pat Benetar’s “Hit Me with Your Best Shot” sarcastically pokes fun of the ultimate male ego. Most egotistical males feel that they should be able to put a woman in her place. In Pat’s song her lyrics can be interpreted through a variety of different means. The chorus “hit me with your best shot” can be taken as an emotional hit or physical punch. Pat sticks up for herself just like Aretha does by saying, “Knock me down it’s all in vain, I’ll get right back on my feet again”. These powerful women are putting there thoughts out through a media that is readily available to males and females to read into. By putting these thoughts and messages out there the female movement is strengthened. Anna Lee B. (26)

Shawn said...

Hey everyone, this is Shawn and I have enjoyed reading all of your comments. Aretha Franklin's song "Respect" came during a time in history when women were fighting for equality and wanted to be respected by everyone, especially men. Women used to have marches to demand equality. At the bottom of my blog, there is a link to a picture. In the picture there is a line of women who are marching and holding signs that demand equality. I think this ties in with what Aretha Franklin was saying. Yes, she was talking about be respected by one man in particular, but in the big picture, I believe she was talking about men in general. She wants respect from him when he gets home, and women in general want respect all the time. I feel that when this song was written and preformed, it really helped women realize that they need to be treated equally and get the respect that they deserve.

Womens March: http://www.vfa.us/1971BettyMarch.jpg

-Shawn Boyd

Anonymous said...

Hey guys! Randi here again! I've enjoyed reading everyone's comments and different views!! I know for our third comment we're supposed to relate this song to something that it reminds us of. So...I chose to post a commercial video from YouTube. It's kinda cute...check it out ;) It actually doesn't really relate to the true meaning of the song at all, but every time I hear this song I think of that commercial. I just can't help it, Aretha's independent woman anthem will forever remind me of this video.

I think that we've all pretty much discussed the crap out of the song and uncovered many different interpretations of the lyrics. Honestly I have nothing else to say about it. But really, check out the video! You'll never sing along to "RESPECT" by Aretha the same way again! haha


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rq71WqbDvw&feature=related

Marin said...

Hey Hey Hey!

Last post here goes:

So I'm going to take this a little farther. I'm going to take us to today with this, or at least, a few months ago. Pat Benetar did it in the 80's with "Hit Me With Your Best Shot," PINK did it last year with "You and Your Hand." Maybe you think it's a little far fetched but read the lyrics. Things today aren't what they were in the 60's. Women are still disrespected. Maybe PINK uses an extreme example, but what girl these days hasn't been hit on by some sleezy guy just 'cause she was dressed well. In the 60's Aretha might have been looked as an extremist too.

Just some food for thought..
:)

Anonymous said...

hey guys it's brett again sorry for not posting last time but working consumes most of my time when im not in school so im going to make two posts in one and maybe my teacher will feel sorry for me and count this and im sorry for being late on this blog but i just got off
as far as the second blogs go it showed me many diffrent ways to interpert this song i like like how randi read deep into the song but that went a little far but i have to totally dis agree with shaun because only christinaty has a solid hold on a male god the rest have profits which are male but the say nothing about a male god don't just go off what others say think for yourself
for the last blog i have to go with randi there ain't much more i can say about this song without going to far into something that ain't there i did like how maria used pink because her songs have message about women becoming stronger in the early 90's i think that desinty child survivor has a lot of the same things excep for it goes on the say waht happened when they didn't get respect and it says that women are stronger than they though because she was much better off by being alone instead of having a man wouldn't be there for her or respect her
http://www.lyrics007.com/Destiny's%20Child%20Lyrics/Survivor.%20Lyrics.html

Drew Andrews said...

Hey guys, sorry for posting so late. A few of you have mentioned Pat Benetar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" and I think that song does closely relate to Aretha's. But I also think of the band Heart. The lead singer and guitarist are sisters, and they were two of the first to break into the male dominated rock and roll genre. Women were not supposed to be able to play the guitar like Nancy Wilson. They immediately gained respect from men for their music and continue to perform.
-Drew Andrews-60

Anonymous said...

Sorry i just looked and saw my URL didn't come up with my post. http://americanhistory.si.edu/brown/history/6-legacy/images/womens-rights.jpg
So there it is. It's a lot of women activists outside D.C. protesting

The Beauty Blogger said...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aretha_Franklin

This is a link to a short biography of Aretha. I think this link clearly backs up my theory that this is not a song for women's right. On the website, it has every little detail about Aretha's life. From her teenage pregnancy to her first debut. If this song was sung for women's right. I'm sure I'll find something that is that important at that time period.

Allison N. (50)