Songs that make me think about life

Gloria Gaynor has a new album

gloria gaynor testimonyWith the prompt, “A song that makes you think about life.” I think, “Yowza – LOTS of songs fit into that category.” Such as these:

Until I Die – Beach Boys. It’s such a lovely song about mortality. Someone once suggested my church choir ought to sing it. The song’s theology doesn’t quite mesh for that to happen.
“I’m a cork on the ocean
Floating over the raging sea
How deep is the ocean?
I lost my way”

Cancer – Joe Jackson. It’s such a CHEERY song for such a terrible disease that has claimed the lives of several people I have known.
“No caffeine, No protein
No booze or Nicotine”

Church – Lyle Lovett. A rebellious song about Sunday morning service. And the damn thing makes me hungry to boot.
“And the preacher he kept preaching
He said now I’ll remind you if I may
You all better pay attention
Or I might decide to preach all day”

How Cruel – Joan Armatrading. I’ve referred to this song more than once on this blog.
“I heard somebody say once I was way too black
And someone answers she’s not black enough for me”

The Ostrich – Steppenwolf. From that first album.
“But there’s nothing you and I can do
You and I are only two”

Logical Song – Supertramp – I saw someone slagging it on Facebook recently; reason enough to include it.
“I said, watch what you say or they’ll be calling you a radical
Liberal, oh fanatical, criminal.”

I Will SurviveGloria Gaynor. Here’s a Rolling Stone article and a CBS News piece , both from June 2019, with her promoting her new gospel album, Testimony. She turns 70 on September 7, 2019.
“Weren’t you the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye
Do you think I’d crumble
Did you think I’d lay down and die?”

Fight the Power – Isley Brothers. Self-evident.
“Time is truly wastin’
There’s no guarantee
Smile’s in the makin’
You gotta fight the powers that be”

The Message – Grand Master Flash & the Furious Five
“It’s like a jungle sometimes
It makes me wonder how I keep from goin’ under”

Music Throwback: I Will Survive

So you think librarians are dull? From the Library of Congress:

“The Library of Congress presents ‘Library of Congress Bibliodiscotheque’ (April 12-May 6, 2017), an unprecedented exploration of disco culture, music, dance and fashion represented in the national collections. Disco’s influence on popular music and dance since the 1970s will be in focus through film screenings, performances, interviews, and a symposium.

“The diverse lineup of programs features appearances by disco icon Gloria Gaynor, whose ‘I Will Survive’ is recognized in the National Recording Registry, fashion guru Tim Gunn, Good Morning America host Robin Roberts, photographer Bill Bernstein, scholars Alice Echols and Martin Scherzinger, and legendary disco ball maker Yolanda Baker. Gloria Gaynor and her band perform in the Great Hall of the Thomas Jefferson Building on May 6th, followed by a late night disco dance party presented in association with Brightest Young Things, The Recording Academy, and the District of Columbia Library Association. Experience the Library of Congress like never before.”

I Will Survive, written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, was originally released as the B-side to a cover version of the Righteous Brothers song Substitute, which only got to #107. That flip side got to #1 for three weeks on the Billboard pop charts in early 1979, though only up to #4 in the soul charts, and was also went to the top in the UK. “While Gaynor’s hit may, on a surface level, be about a bad breakup, the song has been adopted as a gay rights anthem and a battle cry during rough political times.” The Library of Congress deemed Gaynor’s original recording to be “culturally, historically, or artistically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.

LISTEN to I Will Survive

Gloria Gaynor: here or here (official), who can save your life

Emma Stone, Natalie Portman, Amy Adams, Chris Pine, and Taraji P. Henson: here

From the movie Man in the Moon: here

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