Wednesday 22 August 2018

We All Have an Aretha Track…


… And mine is “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)”. Especially after I took up marathon-running. As a runner, sometimes you come across a hill that’s too steep, a flat that’s too long, a path that’s too rough. You need that track that will make you overcome that hill, beat that flat, win over that path. “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)” has that quality. It’s a rocket-powered, piano-riff-rich, bass-hook-driven monster of a song. And on top of everything you have the soaring vocals of the Queen of Soul. Vocals that sing a song of both surrender and love (“You’re a no good heart breaker/You’re a liar and you’re a cheat/And I don’t know why/I let you do these things to me/My friends keep telling me/That you ain’t no good/But oh, they don’t know/That I’d leave you if I could”).

This is a song about flawed humanity. About what we do and the lengths we go to when we love that other person. Even when that other person hurts us so bad. Whereas blues is pain and soul is reaffirmation, “I Never Loved a Man (the Way I Love You)” is a cross between both genres. It is Aretha doing what she did throughout her entire stellar musical career: combining pleasure and suffering.

It is the reason why, when this song comes on my mp3 player, I get that extra burst of energy. It is the combination of brains, brawn (in the form of Aretha’s emotionality) and voice. It is the piano riffs, the bass line, but above all the chops, the pipes. The thought that she only ever took hold of melodies she could feel. And if she felt them, rest assured, so did you.

© 2018



23 comments:

  1. I love her Gospel, but for me it's the version of "Think" from the Blues Brothers film.

    ReplyDelete
  2. "Chain of Fools". I love that song.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I don't know if I have a track, but this one has motivated you for sure.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful tribute. I hope (fervently) that she knew how much she meant to so many.

    ReplyDelete
  5. A nice post here - thank you.

    So many wonderful tracks from her, that will live on.
    RIP Aretha.

    All the best Jan

    ReplyDelete
  6. She sure could belt them out indeed. Respect!

    ReplyDelete
  7. As Albert Einstein once said: "If I were not a physicist, I would probably be a musician. I often think in music. I live my daydreams in music. I see my life in terms of music."

    An eloquent post and a wonderful tribute, CiL ....

    ReplyDelete
  8. I was a fan of Aretha Franklin. Oh what a voice she had. I shall probably be humming her songs all day but in particular I will remember how much my husband liked her.

    ReplyDelete
  9. Ohh I love Aretha!!All of her songs.Beautiful voice.Thanx for sharing

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, yes. That was one of my favorites as well. She was the best.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I love THINK the way she sings it in the Blues Brothers movie.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Excellent choice! And I appreciate your observations. I'm very fond of "Until You Come Back to Me."

    ReplyDelete
  13. What a beautiful tribute. I wonder if she had any idea how empowering her music was... how empowering her very presence was. Like you said, she made you feel the words, and when she died, the world of music and the world, in general, lost a special lady.

    ReplyDelete
  14. I agree...a truly wonderful tribute...to the most amazing woman!
    A talent like hers will never ever be equaled.
    She will be sadly missed...:(

    Have a Great Weekend.:))

    ReplyDelete
  15. Beautiful voice. Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Thanks for sharing. Excellent tribute. She will be missed

    ReplyDelete
  17. She was an amazing woman, but I'll always best remember her in "The Blues Brothers"

    ReplyDelete
  18. Too many wonderful tracks to choose i think

    ReplyDelete
  19. La reina cantante, que tremenda voz, inigualable.

    ReplyDelete
  20. It was a big loss, but her music lives on. Thanks for this tribute to a talented woman.

    ReplyDelete

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...