Donna Summer

Released: October 5, 1981

Songwriter: Bruce Sudano

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Is there a remedy for the passions of the soul
Brother if there is one I don't really know
Have I let my imagination run out of control
I'm a rainbow
Just a rainbow

Am I living here in this nameless state
It's light on darkness sound of silence
I just can't get it straight
See I don't wanna be no one that I ain't
I'm a rainbow
Just a rainbow

And all the colors that you see
Are all part of me
In this crazy world of mine

Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time

I'm a rainbow just a rainbow
Ever changing all the time
I'm a rainbow colorful rainbow
Sometimes I shine

And all the colors that you see
Are all part of me
In this crazy world of mine

Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time

Da, da, da ,da,da...

Like the wind that blows
The trees are sailing for the breeze
Ever changing all the time

I'm a rainbow just a rainbow
And sometimes I can shine
I'm a rainbow just a rainbow...

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)

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I’m a RainbowDonna Summer

Donna Summer

I’m a Rainbow