Donna Summer

Released: October 5, 1981

Songwriter: Pete Bellotte Sylvester Levay

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

I get out of work
And then I throw away all of my cares
I get out of work
And then I wash the week out my hair

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
It's hard as could be
But by old Friday evening
We're free, we're free, we're free

End of the week
The weekend started
Been working so hard to play
End of the week
It's time to party
End of the week
End of the week
End of the week

You're tasting freedom
No one to push you around
End of the week
And life has a reason
End of the week
End of the week
End of the week

Street are alive
You know everybody's going somewhere
You put on the slide
You gotta beat the crowd just everywhere

And all the music all the dancing
Get you so high
And all that sweet romancing
Oh my, oh my, oh my

End of the week
The weekend started
Working so hard to play
End of the week
It's time to party
End of the week
End of the week
End of the week

Feels good now
Feels good now
End of the week
End of the week

It's real good now
Real good now
End of the week
End of the week
End of the week

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

I’m a Rainbow

From the album

I’m a Rainbow (1981)

Donna Summer popular songs

End of the WeekDonna Summer

Donna Summer

I’m a Rainbow