Aretha in Need Is a Franklin Indeed

Hey, fellow-babies, this is Dr. Dewey Fever comin' atcha loud and strong with Rolling Stone's 473rd-greatest song!

The Queen of Soul is making her first appearance on the countdown with a little ditty The Doctor had never heard before called "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man."

Now, at first listen, your musical physician figured this was a standard "treat me right and I'll treat you right" kind of song. I mean, dig this lyric:

Yeah-yeah they say that it's a man's world

But you can't prove that by me

And as long as we're together baby
Show some respect for me

Solid stuff, right? (And by the way, let's go ahead and get used to hearing the word respect from Aretha, because THAT song'll be showing up quite a bit higher on this list.)

But when I pulled up an actual copy of the words for this slow groove, it became clear that Mother Franklin is stepping WAY outside the norm.

The very first verse starts out inside the box...

Take me to heart and I'll always love you
And nobody can make me do wrong

...but the second half sounds a warning that the guy better not ignore:

Take me for granted leaving love unshown
Makes will power weak and temptation strong

And if there's any doubt in your mind what she's being tempted about, just listen to the chorus:

If you want a do right all day woman

You've gotta be a do right all night man

In other words, if you expect me to cook your food and clean your house, then you better be, in the words of Bernie Taupin, "wreckin' the sheets real fine."

Men...can you say "performance anxiety"? Booger!