"This Bitter Earth" is a 1960 song made famous by rhythm and blues singer Dinah Washington and written and produced by Clyde Otis.

Aretha's rendition as well as many other can be found on 'Unforgettable: A Tribute to Dinah Washington' which is a studio tribute album dedicated to the recently deceased singer Dinah Washington whom passed away in December 14, 1963. This album was recorded in less than two months after Dinah's death on February 7th to 10th, 1964. Aretha would later recant, "I first heard Dinah when I was just a kid," she said, "back around the time she made 'Fat Daddy.' I never got to know her personally in those days, though she and my father were good friends.

"The idea of recording a tribute to her grew out of the way I've always felt about her. I didn't try to do the songs the same way she did them, necessarily - just the way they felt best, whether they happened to be similar or different."

The sessions were recorded in New York. A few tunes were cut with strings in order to bring out the essential ballad character of the songs (with the help of Bob Mersey's arranging); most of the tracks, though, were made with the assistance of a small and sympathetic accompanying group for which Mersey supplied minimal written guidance.

Aretha Sings the Blues is a 1980 compilation of previously released Aretha Franklin recordings from Aretha's early 1960s tenure with Columbia Records.

Aretha Louise Franklin (March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer and songwriter. Franklin began her career as a child singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, where her father, C. L. Franklin, was minister. In 1960, at the age of 18, she embarked on a secular career, recording for Columbia Records but only achieving modest success. Following her signing to Atlantic Records in 1967, Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with songs such as "Respect", "(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman", "Spanish Harlem" and "Think". By the end of the 1960s she had gained the title "The Queen of Soul".

Franklin eventually recorded a total of 112 charted singles on Billboard, including 77 Hot 100 entries, 17 top ten pop singles, 100 R&B entries and 20 number-one R&B singles, becoming the most charted female artist in the chart's history.

Franklin also recorded acclaimed albums such as I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You, Lady Soul, Young, Gifted and Black and Amazing Grace before experiencing problems with her record company by the mid-1970s. After her father was shot in 1979, Franklin left Atlantic and signed with Arista Records, finding success with her part in the 1980 film The Blues Brothers and with the albums Jump to It (1982) and Who's Zoomin' Who? (1985).

In 1998, Franklin won international acclaim for singing the opera aria "Nessun dorma", at the Grammys of that year replacing Luciano Pavarotti. Later that same year, she scored her final Top 40 recording with "A Rose Is Still a Rose".

Franklin's other popular and well known hits include "Rock Steady", "Jump to It", "Freeway of Love", "Who's Zoomin' Who", "Chain Of Fools", "Until You Come Back to Me (That's What I'm Gonna Do)", "Something He Can Feel", "I Knew You Were Waiting (For Me)" (with George Michael), and a remake of The Rolling Stones song "Jumpin' Jack Flash".

Franklin has won a total of 18 Grammy Awards and is one of the best-selling musical artists of all time, having sold over 75 million records worldwide.

Franklin has been honored throughout her career including a 1987 induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in which she became the first female performer to be inducted. She was inducted to the UK Music Hall of Fame in 2005. In August 2012, Franklin was inducted into the GMA Gospel Music Hall of Fame.

Franklin is listed in at least two all-time lists on Rolling Stone magazine, including the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time, and the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.

On August 13, 2018, Franklin was reported to be gravely ill at her home near Detroit. She was reported to be under hospice care and surrounded by friends and family. Stevie Wonder and Jesse Jackson, among others, had visited her. Franklin died at home in Detroit on August 16, aged 76. The cause was reported to be advanced pancreatic cancer.

This bitter earth
What fruit it bares
What good is love
That no one wants to share
And if my lifem my life is like the dust
That haunts the glow of a rose
Tell me what good am I
Heaven, heave, heave, heaven only knows

Ooh this, this bitter earth
Well I found it can be, be, be so cold
Today you're young
And before you know it
Too soon you've grown old
But while a voice within me cries
Someone, someone may answer my call
And this bitter earth
This bitter, bitter earth
May not, may not be so bitter after all

While a voice, while this voice
Within me cries
Someone, someone may answer my call
And this, this bitter earth
This real cold earth
Mmm... may not be so bitter after all
Mmm...

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