The Atlantic

The Perfect Aretha Franklin Song

“(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman” best captures the effect the Queen of Soul had on audiences worldwide.
Source: Walter Iooss Jr. / Getty

Aretha Franklin defied the boundaries of time and tragedy. The legendary Queen of Soul, who died in her Detroit home Thursday morning at the age of 76, didn’t just perform; she enraptured. Franklin sang with a power and conviction that healed. She transformed pain—both others’ and her own—into jubilation. This alchemy was studied, strenuous. Aretha Franklin gave us, her listeners, everything.

To hear Aretha Franklin sing was to bear witness as she constructed a one-woman orchestra from the discords of her own agony. Her musical career spanned the greater part

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