To quote two of the most revered poets of our modern era, Shaggy 2 Dope and Violent J of the Insane Clown Posse, "music is all magic. You can't even hold it. It's just there in the air."
To piggyback off of this astute observation, I, too, am frequently astonished by the ineffable powers that a song can possess. Songs can reliably teleport you back to key events in your life through the associative power of memory, unlike any other art form. Whenever I hear Aretha Franklin's smash hit "respect," I'm instantly nine years old again and in the back of my mom's car.
As it turns out, today is the 55th anniversary of Aretha Franklin's timeless cover of Otis Redding's classic ditty. I have to be honest, prior to researching this article, I had no idea that the song was a cover. The queen of soul's version has become so definitive that it's swallowed the memory of Redding's original. That's pure magic, yo.
