Donna Summer

Songwriter: Siedah Garrett Tony Maiden

Producer: Michael Omartian

(Tearing down tearing down tearing...)

I know the rhythm of the music
I see the beat in the dark
Emotion got me where I'm with him
It's so hard to get to your heart

Fascination you know it brought me to you
Satisfaction makes me want to
Want to start by tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart
Tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart

I know I'm only getting so close
I see you're up on your guard
Secrets I wanna get to know those
'Cause down deep I'm after your heart

All I'm giving is some good old-fashioned love
(Wanna give it all to ya)
I wanna give to ya prove it to you
Let me start by tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart
Tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart

Oh tearing down
Wanna take the time to show ya
Really wanna get to know ya
Oh tearing down

Let me start by tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart
Tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart

(Tearing down tearing down tearing...)

Fascination you know it brought me to you, oh
Satisfaction makes me want to
Want to start by tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart
Tearing down the walls
Tearing down the walls around your heart

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

Tearin’ Down the WallsDonna Summer

Donna Summer

All Systems Go