“Respect” wasn’t originally Aretha Franklin’s song – it was written and first recorded by Otis Redding in 1965. But when Aretha covered it in 1967, she completely reinvented it—changing the arrangement, adding the iconic “R-E-S-P-E-C-T” and “sock it to me” lines, and flipping the meaning into an anthem of empowerment. Her version became so definitive that even Otis said, “That girl done stole my song.”