He also tried to coopt the song as an anthem from blacks to whites before women adoted it as a song from women to men.
Sorry, Barry, it’s clearly a woman singing to a man.
True. I'd never heard the other, racial interpretation before.
The first, less memorable version song was written by a man (Otis Redding), though, to be sung by another man (Speedo Sims). It wasn't so much about race even then, though, but about a man wanting respect from his woman.
And Aretha and her team changed the song a lot, making it a lot catchier.
Why all the "Sock it to me, sock it to me, sock it to me," though, if she wants to be respected (or rspected)