# The best Aretha Franklin songs

The Queen of Soul's greatest songs, from Respect, Rolling Stone's greatest song of all time, to I Say a Little Prayer.

- 150 votes · 14 items
- Dec 6, 2025 · vinylhead_grumpy
- https://even.best/en/l/3642/the-best-aretha-franklin-songs

## Top 14

1. **Respect** (17 · ▲19 ▼2) — 1967. Her Otis Redding cover; Rolling Stone's greatest song of all time.
2. **(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman** (12 · ▲13 ▼1) — 1967. By Carole King and Gerry Goffin.
3. **Day Dreaming** (11 · ▲11 ▼0) — 1972. Soft and jazzy.
4. **I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)** (10 · ▲11 ▼1) — 1967. Number one on Billboard's ranking.
5. **Freeway of Love** (9 · ▲10 ▼1) — 1985. Her eighties comeback.
6. **Rock Steady** (9 · ▲9 ▼0) — 1971. Funk at full power.
7. **Ain't No Way** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — 1968. A soaring soul ballad.
8. **Baby I Love You** (7 · ▲9 ▼2) — 1967. Second on Billboard's ranking.
9. **Chain of Fools** (6 · ▲8 ▼2) — 1967. A minor-key song about being fooled.
10. **Think** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — 1968. Her anthem of freedom, famous from The Blues Brothers.
11. **Young, Gifted and Black** (6 · ▲7 ▼1) — 1972. A Nina Simone song made her own.
12. **I Say a Little Prayer** (5 · ▲7 ▼2) — 1968. Her Bacharach cover; first for the AOTY community.
13. **I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)** (2 · ▲4 ▼2) — 1987. A number one duet with George Michael.
14. **Spanish Harlem** (1 · ▲5 ▼4) — 1971. Her version of the Ben E. King classic.

How is this ranking ordered? By people's votes: each ▲ adds a point and each ▼ takes one away. Anyone can vote and add what is missing.