Donna Summer

Released: August 28, 1978

Songwriter: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder Donna Summer Jimmy Webb

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

ACT I - MacArthur Park

[Verse 1]
Spring was never waiting for us, dear
It ran one step ahead
As we followed in the dance
Between the parted pages, we were pressed
In love's hot fevered iron
Like a striped pair of pants

[Hook]
MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again, again

[Verse 2]
I recall the yellow cotton dress
Foaming like a wave
On the ground beneath your knees
The birds like tender babies in your hands
And the old men playing
Chinese checkers by the trees

[Hook]
MacArthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet, green icing flowing down
Someone left the cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'Cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again, again

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Bridge]
There will be another song for me
And I will sing it
There will be another dream for me
Someone will bring it

[Verse 3]
I will drink the wine while it is warm
And never let you catch me looking at the sun, yeah
And after all the loves of my life
After all the loves of my life, you'll still be the one

[Verse 4]
I will take my life into my hands and I will use it
I will win the worship in their eyes and I will lose it
I will have the things that I desire
And my passion flow like rivers from the sky
Oh, and after all the loves of my life, yeah yeah
After all the loves in my life
You'll still be the one
And I'll ask myself whyy, yeah yeah

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Outro]
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo
Oo oo oo oo

ACT II - One of a Kind

[Verse 1]
You're one of a kind
Gotta have ya
Well, you're one of a kind
I need to have ya

[Pre-Hook]
Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

[Hook]
Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart, oooh!

[Verse 2]
You're one of a kind
You got magic
I know you're one of a kind
Baby you're outstanding

[Pre-Hook]
Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

[Hook]
Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart, oooh!

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Pre-Hook]
Right from the start
You tore me apart
You took the best part of my heart, aahh!

[Hook]
Body and soul
You took me out of control
You stole the best part of my heart

ACT III - Heaven Knows

[Verse 1: Donna Summer and [?]]
Baby please (baby please)
Please don't take your love from me
(Please don't take your love from me)
I am yours forever more (ever more)
'Till eternity (Ohh)
Silently (So silently)
Listen to the words I say
(listen to the words I say)
I'm not talking just for play (just for play)
Listen to me please

[Hook: Donna Summer]
Heaven knows it's not the way it should be and
Heaven knows it's not the way it could be and
Don't you know there's no need to leave
Heaven knows I never wanna leave you
Heaven knows I only wanna please you
Don't you know love is what I need

[Verse 2: Donna Summer and [?]]
Down inside (down inside)
Don't get caught with foolish pride
(Don't get caught with foolish pride)
Put all the other things aside
(things aside)
There's only you and me
(you and me, you and me)
Believe in us (believe in us)
We were always meant to be
(always meant to be)
Me for you and you for me (you for me)
'Till eternity ('till eternity)

[Hook: Donna Summer]
Heaven knows it's not the way it should be and
Heaven knows it's not the way it could be and
Don't you know there's no need to leave
Heaven knows I only wanna love you
Heaven knows I never wanna lose you
Don't you know love is meant to be

[Instrumental Interlude]

[Hook: Donna Summer]
Heaven knows it's not the way it should be
Heaven knows stop with the pretending
Come on now, hear me when I cry

ACT IV - MacArthur Park (Reprise)

[Hook]
Mac Arthur's Park is melting in the dark
All the sweet green icing flowing down
Someone left my cake out in the rain
I don't think that I can take it
'cause it took so long to bake it
And I'll never have that recipe again
Oh, nooo!

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

Live and More

From the albums

Live and More (1978)
Bad Girls (Deluxe Edition) (2003)

Donna Summer popular songs

MacArthur Park Suite: MacArthur Park/One of a Kind/Heavens Knows/MacArthur Park RepriseDonna Summer

Donna Summer

Live and More