Respect (song) - Lyrics

Lyrics

Franklin's version of the song contains the famous lines (as printed in the lyrics included in the 1985 compilation album Atlantic Soul Classics):

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Find out what it means to me

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Take care ... TCB

The last line is often misquoted as "Take out, TCP", or something similar, and indeed most published music sheets which include the lyrics have this incorrect line in them. "R-E-S-P-E-C-T" and "T-C-B" are not present in Redding's original song, but were included in some of his later performances with the Bar-Kays. There seems to be some confusion over who first used "T-C-B" in the song. In a musical episode of Tiny Toon Adventures, Babs Bunny lip synchs to Respect. This line plays during a fight scene with the title above the brawl. During the fight, the letters TCP are removed from the word to tie up one of the series' antagonists.

"TCB" is an abbreviation, that was commonly used in the 1960s and 1970s, meaning "Taking Care (of) Business", and it was particularly widely used in African-American culture. However, it was somewhat less well-known outside of that culture, yielding a possible explanation as to why it was not recognized by those who transcribed Franklin's words for music sheets. Nevertheless, "TCB in a flash" later became Elvis Presley's motto and signature, from his necklace to his private jet plane.

Franklin's lyrics most probably influenced hip-hop's later use of both the word "proper" and "props" in the context of proper respect. She proclaims that she is about to give him all her money, and that all she's asking is for him to give her "her propers", when he gets home.