It's hard to laugh when you want to cry.
Some people can hide it.
I believe she got the name because she is the best at conveying her deepest feelings, her soul, through song and music. It is generally a happy, confident, and serenely self-possessed Aretha that we see and hear these days, a far cry fr om her beginnings as a shy and withdrawn young artist. Love songs of a different sort started Aretha's career. She recorded her first album at 14, a gospel album made with the help of her father, the famous Reverend C. L. Franklin of Detroit. Aretha went out on the road as part of a gospel caravan, an often intense experience.