Donna Summer

Songwriter: Michael Omartian Jay Graydon Donna Summer

Producer: Michael Omartian

He's a rebel and you may not like his
Looks or his style
Be he's faster than light and he
Can walk a miracle mile
He'll point you out and he'll pull you in
I guarantee he'll be your best friend

He's a rebel and he's gonna be good
Anyhow
And the boys in the group they just
Want to drag him way down
He's so straight ahead, he'll blow
Your mind
He can be strong and yet so kind

What you see is what you get
And what you get you won't regret
'cause he's on the line
What you want is what he's got and
What he's got, he's got a lot
'cause it's allright
It's allright

Ooh he's a rebel, written up in the
Lambs book of life
And there'll be no escape because
The stage has been set for a while
If he comes your way, he'll make you
Surrender
His story's clear and his voice
So tender

What you see is what you get
And what you get you won't regret
'cause he's on the line
What you want is what he's got and
What he's got, he's got a lot
'cause it's allright
It's allright

If he comes your way he'll make you
Surrender
His words are clear and his
Love's forever

He's a rebel and he doesn't conform
That's for sure
Society rules and it's fallin' right
Down to the core
He'll love you like you've never been
Loved before
He always leaves you wanting
Him more

He's a rebel
See that rebel
Yeah, that's a rebel
That's a rebel
He's a rebel
See that rebel
There's the rebel
There's the rebel

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

She Works Hard for the Money

From the album

She Works Hard for the Money (1983)

Donna Summer popular songs

He’s a RebelDonna Summer

Donna Summer

She Works Hard for the Money