Released: May 13, 1977

Songwriter: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte Donna Summer

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

Well, I see him every morning
In the schoolyard when the school bell rings
And when he passes in the hallway
Well, he doesn't seem to notice me
He's got a crush on my best friend
But she don't care
'Cause she loves someone else
I'm standing on the outside
Not the inside where I wanna be

Chorus:
Love's unkind
Love's unkind
Love's unkind
Love's unkind

'Cause he's not mine

Just the other day
I was praying he would give me a chance
Hoping he would choose me
For his partner for the high school dance
I was standing outside the class
But it wasn't me
But my best friend he asked
I went running back inside
Teary-eyed and left the two of them behind

Chorus

'Cause he's not mine

Oh, I love him so
But I can't even let him know
'Cause he loves my best friend
But she don't care
She loves someone else
And I asked my mama
And she said: "Love's unkind
Love's so unkind"
She said: "Just keep it in mind
'Cause you may find
Love's unkind"

Chorus

Why has love to be so?
Why do I have to love him so?

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.