Aretha Franklin: "I Never Loved a Man"

I don't usually blog on weekends. Which is silly, because I absolutely love writing and this blog and my other one are so much fun to work on. Thank you, by the way, for reading; it means the world to me to believe for even a second that someone else appreciates the thoughts and occasional witticisms that make their way from my brain to my keyboard. It's validating, and I thank you for giving me the confidence to trek on. But the point is, I don't usually blog on weekends, but I just had to show you guys this.

I've been listening to Aretha Franklin since I was a little girl. I have no idea why -- my parents raised me on a strict diet of Zeppelin and jam rock. Maybe because I liked imitating her singing style, the bluesy rhythms and runs. I still like doing that, actually. So when a karaoke opportunity comes up, and I've had enough to drink to make me completely confident in my uninhibited singing voice, I turn to Aretha. Last night, that meant "I Never Loved a Man," a lesser-known standard than "Respect" but it begins with the lyrics, "You're no good, heartbreaker. You're a liar and you're a cheat." I appreciate that she gets straight to the point. Call him OUT, girl. This is one of my favorite songs to the point that I listen to it on the treadmill and breathlessly attempt to sing along because I just. can't. help myself.

She's just so natural and unbelievably accurate. In my head, I sound like this when I sing karaoke. In reality, I would never, ever want to see a video of myself singing karaoke. (And if any of my friends reading have such videos, I know where you sleep.)

Thanks for the memories (or lack thereof), Aretha. Enjoy.