You haven't experienced real Soul until you've heard Bettye LaVette testify. Warning: you will cry. Guaranteed.

LaVette's been recording since she was sixteen—way back in 1962—laid tracks for nine separate labels, including Epic, Motown, and Atlantic, and appeared on 22 separate albums but only gained notoriety with her 2005 album I've Got My Own Hell to Raise. But rather than prattle on about her life story, here—she wrote a song about it. Wanna hear it? Here it goes: