Donna Summer

Released: October 5, 1981

Songwriter: Donna Summer Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Five to nine
Early Sunday morning around breakfast time
I heard a sudden tapping at the kitchen door
Oh and there was more
Well it was you I saw

No mistake
I knew you'd come around that sad look on your face
Then you begged me to come in and I said yes
Oh what a fool I am
I should have turned away

I need time
To turn the time around
To let it all hang out
To fight my fear and fight my doubt
I need time
To turn the time around
(get ahold) of love
Spoken words don't mean enough

No mistake
Remember not to break the promise that you make
I'll meet you fifty fifty in the middle now
And I won't back out
There'd better be no doubt

I need time
To turn the time around
Little did I know that love would bring you to my door
I need time
To turn the time around
Little did I know that love was on our side

I love you you know I
You know I always will love you now
I know I do love you
You know I'll always be true to you my love

Here you stand
Torn up yellow T-shirt and guitar in hand
I wanna love you now
Oh forget the past
I wanna make love last

I need time
To turn the time around
Let it all hang out
Love will bring you back again

I need time
To turn the time around
Little did I know that I love will bring you back again

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

I Need TimeDonna Summer

Donna Summer

I’m a Rainbow