Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive” | Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶

In the 28^th edition of Throwback Vibez (2022), we recollect and reflect on “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor.   

The vibes, the vibes, those Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶! Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 is a column that celebrates awesome songs from the past.  The records that grace Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 are older, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re ancient – no fossils 🦴! All genres of music are welcome – we don’t discriminate ‘round here! In the 28^th edition of Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 (2022), we recollect and reflect on 🎵 “I Will Survive”, performed by 🎙 Gloria Gaynor. 

Theme & Lyrics ✍

“At first, I was afraid, I was petrified / Kept thinkin’ I could never live without you by my side…” Yaaasss!!! Those timeless lyrics hail from one of the best disco songs (if not the best, lie it’s 🏆 Grammy suggests) of all time, 🎵 “I Will Survive”.  Not only is “I Will Survive” an elite disco song, but it’s also an elite song regardless of genre.  It spent three weeks at no. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 – the pop charts, y’all! This is the record that 🏆 Grammy-winner 🎙 Gloria Gaynor will be forever remembered for.  I’m sure she’s just fine with that considering she named her 1997 autobiography after it. “But then I spent so many nights thinkin’ how you did me wrong / And I grew strong, and I learned how to get along.” #Classic!

“I Will Survive” appears on her 1978 album, 💿 Love Tracks.  It was an accidental hit – a B Side that was better and far more successful than the A Side. As the excerpted lyrics and song title suggest, it’s about surviving and overcoming. EMPOWERMENT, people! Specifically, the lyrics are crafted from a romantic angle – overcoming a bad relationship.

“Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now, ‘cause you’re not welcome anymore

Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye?

Did you think I’d crumble? Did you think I’d lay down and die?”

That said, the empowering message of survival, over the years, has been applicable to any number of adverse situations.

“Oh no, not I, I will survive

Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’m still alive

I’ve got all my life to live, and I’ve got all my love to give

And I’ll survive, I will survive!”

For one of the songwriters, 🎼✍ Dino Fekaris – a former Motown hit maker – he’s survived and overcame adversity after being fired from Motown.  For the LGBTQ+ community, this is a certified gay anthem to this day. Gloria Gaynor performs it brilliantly.  The production is stellar, incorporating both minimalism and the grandiosity of disco.

Final Thoughts 💭

It should come as no surprise that “I Will Survive” is one of the most covered songs of all-time.  Who wouldn’t want to sing this one? Great melody, great theme and lyrics – great everything! As “I Will Survive” heads towards its fifth decade of life, it’s as potent as ever.

🎙 Gloria Gaynor • 💿 Love Tracks • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc.• 🗓 1978

Gloria Gaynor, “I Will Survive”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 No. 28 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Gerhard G., JL G via Pixabay,  Karl Hörnfeldt via Unsplash,  The Musical Hype, UMG Recordings, Inc.]