10 Cover Songs Much Better Than The Original

3. Aretha Franklin - "Respect" (Otis Redding)

This is one of those that will send a lot of people to Youtube or Wikipedia, saying to themselves "That can't possibly be a cover," but just trust me on this one and allow me to blow your mind for a minute. Otis Redding originally recorded "Respect" in 1965 as a relatively misogynistic track (though it would never be defined as such back in that era), using "respect" as a metaphor for sex. Redding's song is a compromise to his woman, suggesting that she can do whatever she wants while he's away at work, but when he comes home, dammit he's gonna want a strong showing in the bedroom. Classy, isn't it?

Aretha's version, released two years later, is a rallying cry for strong, independent women to demand equality because deserve R-E-S-P-E-C-T! (That spell-it-out chorus was added by Franklin, by the way, as were the "sock it to me" chants of the backup singers, as if you needed another reason to believe this was a better recording in every way than Redding's.) But Aretha didn't just improve on a slightly bitter ode to diligent sex, she transformed it into a feminist declaration and one of the greatest songs of the era.