| Aretha�s music: Food For My Soul by Jessi Every once in a great while, you hear a voice that completely captivates you with every word sung by its master. It lifts your spirit and stirs your soul, causing you to feel emotions you never thought existed. It is rich in soul, relaying personal experiences through the lyrics in which it sings and when you hear it, you can�t help but be transported to a wonderful place where everything is perfect and right, almost surreal. This voice in which I speak so fondly of, is the voice of a singer who for the past four decades has changed the world. In the 60�s, during a time of racial tension and poor treatment of women, she came along and proved that this tension had to stop, that r-e-s-p-e-c-t was the way to go. During the 70�s, she showed believers and non believers alike that there was a higher power and that if we continued to have faith, we, to, would see the �amazing grace.� For the past four decades her voice has served as a sense of security, a sense of comfort, something that could be depended on no matter what the situation and it continues to do so today. She has inspired many musicians of this generation and has in more ways than one, changed music and society. She wears the crown proudly, for she is the one and only Queen of Soul. She is the wonderful, the amazing, the inspirational Aretha Franklin. As a young woman of only 19, I have only recently discovered the amazing talent this woman possesses. It has only been within the past few months that I have really begun to take notice, but boy am I glad I did. Aretha has opened my mind to many genres of music that without her, I probably would have never paid much attention. She made me look past the hits and introduced me to gospel and blues, r and b and soul. She helped me to respect and appreciate artists who I wouldn�t normally have thought about and helped me to mature and keep my mind open. Through her music, Aretha expresses many emotions. She makes me feel things I didn�t think it was possible to feel. Her music is like an emotional roller coaster, filling me with joy and then making me stop to think. She soothes my soul like only she can, gives me a sense of excitement that is pretty well unmatched and makes me stop to ponder things I might not have thought about otherwise. Aretha�s music has given me a whole new sense of confidence. She has forced me to break from my shell and become the independent woman I always wanted to become. She has shown me that I shouldn�t settle for second best and that �no matter what� the situation, I had to keep �holdin� on� because some �wonderful� �good news� would soon take over. After all, as she so honestly states, �what�s to become of me, if I let myself stress every time life throws me a test?� No singer has ever done for me what Aretha has done, her music has literally changed my life. Apart from making me more emotionally aware, Aretha has also inspired me to the greatest extent. She has caused me to take my own music to a whole new level, incorporating different genres into it and forcing me to increase my vocal ability. Aretha�s own vocal ability surpasses that of any other singer I�ve ever heard. From the lowest lows to the highest highs, Aretha sings them all while adding her own style of soul and gospel to the mix. There are no words to describe the gifts that God has blessed Aretha with, they must be witnessed and fully appreciated in order to be understood. All hail queen Aretha, for she is, and always will be, the queen of soul. She has blessed the world with music that is and will be, my soul food. |