Donna Summer

Released: October 20, 1980

Songwriter: Pete Bellotte Keith Forsey Harold Faltermeyer

Producer: Pete Bellotte Giorgio Moroder

[Verse 1:]
Walking the line
I'm walking the line
Treading thin ice
Time after time

I go for the best
End up with much less
I need the real thing
Forget all the rest
Oh, yeah
All right

Started out good
Working out bad
All the sweet love turned sour and sad

A face and name
It's always the same
So tired of playing love's foolish games
Tell me why love passes me by

[Chorus:]
Cold love
Cold love
Another shot of rock 'n roll love

Cold love
Cold love
Whatever happened to that good old love?

Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why

[Verse 2:]
Hope in the dark
Love in the light
I'll keep on looking for someone who's right

I'm out for the best
Can you stand the test?
I need the real thing
No more and no less
Tell me why love passes me by

[Repeat Chorus:]

[Bridge:]
Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why
Tell me why

[Repeat Chorus:]

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

The Wanderer

From the album

The Wanderer (1980)

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Donna Summer

The Wanderer