Donna Summer

Released: May 20, 2008

Songwriter: Jamie Houston Fred Kron Donna Summer

Producer: Jamie Houston

Voice of wood crying
Angel of joy, angel of joy
Angel of light

Tears were holding water
Crying for us all
Every son and every daughter
Rise up before we fall

Darfur, Darfur
The grace of God be with you
Waiting for arms of mercy
To surround us all

Voice of wood crying
Angel of joy, angel of joy
Angel of light
Open the doors heaven

Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Let me feel the wind again

One voice is like a choir
Singing sacred words
Break through all our resistance
Till it bends the Universe

Darfur, Darfur
The grace of God be with you
Waiting for arms of mercy
To surround us all

Voice of wood crying
Angel of joy, angel of joy
Angel of light
Open the doors heaven

Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Let me feel the wind again
Oh let me feel the wind again...

To the broken heart
Of a wounded child
Covered with scars
Crying out loud

What will it take
To open your heart
Before his last breath
Before he departs

Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
I said
Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Bring down the reign
Everybody [5x]

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

Crayons

From the album

Crayons (2008)

Donna Summer popular songs

Bring Down the ReignDonna Summer

Donna Summer

Crayons