Donna Summer

Released: September 15, 1987

Featuring: Mickey Thomas

Songwriter: Harold Faltermeyer John Bettis Virgil Weber Michael Omartian Bruce Sudano Donna Summer

Producer: Harold Faltermeyer

What went wrong
I was so sure that love had led me to your door
Was it a dream, nothing more

Inside my head
I keep hearing all the tender words we said
Who were they for

We are strong
We can hold on to each other if we try
And make it right, for you and I
There's no goodbyes

Only the fool survives
Only the heart provides
Sweet love and tenderness
Save us tonight

Life is change
But I never want to leave this love behind
We've come too far to lose this time

Where there's love
There is nothing strong enough to come between
What we believe
And break us up where there is love

Only the fool survives
Only the heart provides
Sweet love and tenderness
Save us tonight

Only the fool survives
Even the hardest times
Let all the love we share
Keep us alive

See your eyes in a million faces
See your smiles in a thousand places
And I never escape your memories

You'd be there everywhere that I go
You're the only real thing I know
And I never wanted to be free
Stay here with me

Only the fool survives
Only the heart provides
Sweet love and tenderness
Save us tonight

Only the fool survives
Even the hardest times
Let al the love we share
Keep us alive...

As the unquestioned queen of disco, the one and only Donna Summer lit up the late 70s and 80s with flashy, exuberant vocals and automatic earworms. Born LaDonna Adrian Gaines on Dec. 31, 1948, Summer moved to Germany after being cast in a Munich production of Hair. There, she happened to meet Giorgio Moroder and Pete Bellotte, and the trio conglomerated to form a dynamic music team. With Moroder, Summer forged together her first album, The Hostage, which reached moderate success in Northern Europe. Summer’s big break, however, would come later with the release of 1975’s sexual “Love to Love You Baby”, which became one of disco’s first mainstream hits and reached #2 on the Billboard Charts.

1977 came around with the concept album I Remember Yesterday, which featured the Top 10 single “I Feel Love”. The next year, Summer hit the silver screen with the movie Thank God It’s Friday, whose soundtrack featured one of her own the iconic “Last Dance.” This would later become one of the disco legends' signature songs. “Dance” would take home an Academy Award for Best Original Song, a Grammy, and a Golden Globe, and it jumped to a peak of #3 on the charts.

Yet Summer’s illustrious career was far from finished – Summer’s first live album Live and More featured the single “MacArthur Park”, a melting ballad that was a cover of the Jimmy Webb ballad of the same name. “Park” became Summer’s first – and perhaps most memorable – No. 1 hit, and cemented her status as a vocalist as well as a performer. With the track, she became the first female in modern rock history to hold the top spot in both the Hot 100 and the Billboard 200. 1979, though, would really be the peak of her career.

more tracks from the album

All Systems Go

From the album

All Systems Go (1987)

Donna Summer popular songs

Only the Fool SurvivesDonna Summer

Donna Summer

All Systems Go