Son of a Preacher Man

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I create a playlist for all of my books, because music appears in all of my stories, mostly as a way to place the story in time, but often to reflect how the characters are feeling. Sometimes the songs are just meant to tell us something about the characters.

My October release, “He,” was no exception but in the case of this book, the first song on the playlist was especially freighted as it underscores a key scene, and it tells us something important about one of the main characters and colors his relationship.

Here is the first song from the playlist for “He.”

Dusty Springfield’s “Son of a Preacher Man,” was an obvious choice for a few reasons, one of which is her status as a gay icon—a gay woman who came out and stood up in the 70s saying, yes, I am.

Famously, she was deported from South Africa for performing to an integrated audience, which was prohibited by the South African government at the time; her contract specifically excluded segregated performances, which made her one of the first British artists to do so. Dusty was a queen ahead of her time, just as the protagonists of “He” are ahead of their time.

Dusty Springfield—Son of a Preacher Man

There is also a second version of “Son of a Preacher Man,” that one sung by another queen—the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin. The writers wrote the song specifically for Aretha but she turned it down initially as she thought it was disrespectful to her father, a minister. The song was then offered to Dusty Springfield, whose soulful, nuanced rendition made the song an international hit. Impressed by Springfield’s rendition and the record’s success, Aretha changed her mind and recorded her own version a year later, imbuing it with her signature gospel and soul power.

Aretha Franklin—Son of a Preacher Man

Which version do you prefer and why? Let me know in the comments below.

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

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