Donna Summer

Released: October 20, 1980

Songwriter: Donna Summer

Producer: Giorgio Moroder Pete Bellotte

Spent the best of my life running scared in the city
Left my shoes and my clothes and my lovers behind, yeah
Oh but I felt incomplete, living out there on the street

I was always alone and afraid, such a pity
Little girls just don't know what comes out after dark
But the devil waits in heat, down on that dead end street

And I say
Running for cover
Running for cover
Running for cover

It's keeping me running
I'm just ascared that he's out tonight
It's keeping me running
I don't know why, but it's getting dark
Say the devil's in the park
And it's already after dark
Running for cover
Running for cover
Running for cover, now
...now...

Life is really so hard when you live in the city
No one know what a young girl has on her mind, yeah
But you're headed for defeat, down on that dead end street

Never learned of the lesson you should, such a pity
Still and all you will stay with the others behind
And the promise in the dark is that the devil's in the park

And I say
Running for cover
Running for cover
Running for cover

It's keeping me running
I'm just ascared that he's out tonight
It's keeping me running
I don't know why, but it's getting dark
Say the devil's in the park
And it's already after dark

Running for cover
Running for cover
Running for cover

Spent the best of my life running scared in the city
Left my shoes and my clothes and my lovers behind, yeah
Oh but I felt incomplete, living out there on the street

Running for cover
Running for cover
Running for cover

It's keeping me running
I'm just ascared that he's out tonight
It's keeping me running
I don't know why, but it's getting dark
Say the devil's in the park
And its already after dark

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)

Donna Summer popular songs

Running for CoverDonna Summer

Donna Summer

The Wanderer