I Will Survive

The song “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor is forever embedded in my memory. The song came out at the beginning of the disco era and I remember how excited everyone was the first time we heard it. All of my girlfriends acted like the song was written specifically for us. Since the song is basically about a woman declaring her independence and how she doesn’t need a man anymore, the song became an anthem for every woman I knew. The pulsating beat of the music intrigued us and I remember riding around town with my friends in a van and we’d play the song as loud as we could and sing down the interstate. It was as if the song was injected into our souls. We couldn’t get enough of it because it made us feel so happy and powerful. On Saturday nights we’d go clubbing and everyone would dress up in our Sunday best.  Prior to the beginning of disco we’d go out in jeans, but when disco came along it even changed the way we dressed. We wouldn’t be caught dead in a club unless we were dressed up and looking our best. We had no choice because when we danced we needed to look good. The song “I will survive” is one of my favorite songs ever because it holds so many meanings for me. The clubs began setting up mirrored disco balls, smoke machines and elaborate lighting.  The music was throbbing. When you walked in, you were immediately transformed. You could actually feel the pulse in the air. I remember that feeling like it were yesterday. The disc jockey would play “I Will Survive” and people would kill themselves trying to get a good spot on the dance floor. Sweaty bodies moving rhymatically to the beat, the music suggested sex was in the air. Poppers were popular then and everyone was having a great time. We lived for the music of Gloria Gaynor. Ah, those were the days.

Gloria Gaynor performed at the Endymion Extravaganza following their Parade at the Superdome during Mardi Gras and I went with nearly twenty of my friends. There was no way we weren’t going to be there even though there was a police strike going on at the time. When Gloria came on stage, we all got up and danced like never before and I accidently burned the man’s hair in front of me. Like I said, this song did something to us and I was so involved in the song I didn’t even notice until someone smelled his hair burning. We were on such a natural high following the concert, but ironically the night ended tragically when we all met afterwards for a drink in the French Quarter. A drug crazed man stabbed me in my face merely for rebuking his sexual advances. Although the man randomly also stabbed another friend of mine, there was no way we would allow him to take away our fantastic moments of seeing Gloria Gaynor onstage singing our song “I will survive.” So as it turns out-the song really was prophetic because I did survive and when I hear it, I still only think of all the good memories associated with that song. Ah, may disco and Gloria Gaynor live forever!