Released: April 25, 1979

Songwriter: Donna Summer

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

[Verse-1]
Whenever my baby loves me
Whenever my baby needs me
And he often does

Well I'm attracted by desire ooh
Cause he's the master of the fire
And he teases just to tease me
And he pleases just to please me

[Break]
My baby understands
My baby understands
My baby understands
My baby understands

[Verse-2]
Whenever my baby loves me
Love me like he should
Whenever my baby leaves me
Leaves me feeling good
He loves me
Needs me
Wants me
Oh yes my baby does

Whenever my baby leaves me
Whenever my baby goes away for a while
Like he does

[Bridge]
No I never need to worry ooh
Cause my baby loves me only

[Hook]
Well I'm capture by desire
Cause he's the master of the fire
My baby understands (2x)

[Outro]
Yes my baby understands, yeah
Baby oh baby
Baby oh baby...

Donna Summer

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.