Aretha Franklin and Luther Vandross’ second collaborative album, 1983’s Get It Right, didn’t ignite quite like their first, 1982’s Jump To It. However, Get It Right is still a formidable body of work with some killer cuts. One such cut is the second single, “Every Girl (Wants My Guy)”.
Aretha casually brushes off the tropes of women clamoring for her man, wondering “why can’t they see that the boy loves me?” She even writes off the “competition” in a few subtle spoken digs as the song fades out. Aretha wonders, “Have you looked in your mirror lately? You better dust it off because you are r-u-i-n-g” before laughing her target off.
And just like on “Jump To It”, “Every Girl (Wants My Guy)” has a well-placed instrumental break to it. Once again Aretha reconnects with her girlfriend Kitty for another one-sided chat. Aretha catches her up on how “girls tryna jerk (her) for (her) man.” It’s another glimpse into the personality and humor Aretha possessed.
The slick bass is a trademark of many of these Luther sessions, as are the synths and keyboards which fill out the instrumentation. They fuel the 80’s vibe the song still maintains to this day. Aretha accompanies herself on the background vocals, creating a wall of harmonies that compliment her lead vocal.
Check out Aretha’s “Every Girl (Wants My Guy)”
365 Days of Aretha Franklin 