‘I Will Survive’: How Gloria Gaynor’s classic empowerment anthem came to reflect the singer’s ongoing hardships
“At first I was afraid! I was petrified!” The many reasons why Gloria Gaynor’s 1978 dance hit ‘I Will Survive’ has become a global anthem are entirely understandable, but its story is considerably hard-hitting, even if it remains a necessary cause for celebration for those who feel hard done by amid life’s challenges.
“That song is my story,” Gaynor told The Independent, demonstrating why it should be remembered as the ultimate ode to resilience, even when everything seems stacked against what is truly desired. Many songs transform pain and suffering into a call for positivity—’Dancing In The Moonlight’ comes to mind—but ‘I Will Survive’ is uniquely shrouded in a sense of realism that resonates deeply.
Don’t be fooled by the delicate piano flourish at the start of the song: Gaynor might be setting the scene, tapping into what it was that forced her to grow an even thicker skin, but what follows is empowerment and a strong sense of overcoming fear, whatever it might be. “But then I spent so many nights thinkin’ how you did me wrong,” she sings with headiness and newfound fire. “And I grew strong and I learned how to get along.”
It’s melodramatic, it’s over-the-top, and it explodes in effervescent power-pop glory, but it also “carries the torch of empowerment”, in Gaynor’s words, largely because it continues to represent the singer’s storied career, including her failed attempts to break into the gospel arena in the mid-1970s, her rocky marriage to her former manager, her experiences with sexual abuse, her sister’s murder, and many more personally harrowing obstacles she had to endure throughout her life and career.
Her desire to create gospel music was met at the time by an unsupportive manager who scathingly assured her that “no one wants” it, the push to encourage her to deliver dance hits stronger than her knowledge of industry-wide practices. ‘I Will Survive’ might be her best and most well-known track, but there was a time when her heart desired something completely different, but factors outside her control kept holding her back.
Gaynor started out singing as part of the jazz group The Soul Satisfiers in the 1960s, but her move towards dance pop in the 1970s gained significant traction, with ‘I Will Survive’ catapulting her to fame on a global scale. By this point, the singer likely resonated with such messages given her various trials and tribulations, including being molested by her mother’s partner at 12 years old, an event which occurred again when she was 17 at the hands of her brother’s cousin.
The song was initially written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, the latter of which drew inspiration from the frustration and betrayal he felt after being fired from Motown Records. What started as the basis for a professional setback turned into an aggressive break-up anthem about learning to move on with confidence, but Gaynor’s personal experiences also infiltrated her delivery, underscored by a deep-rooted dose of female empowerment.
In 1995, Gaynor’s sister, Irma Proctor, died trying to help somebody else. As the singer once told The Independent, “A young man ran up and started talking to the other woman. My sister kept walking but turned to see what was going on when she heard their voices raised.”
She continued: “The man then struck the woman to the ground and my sister ran over to intervene. He turned on my sister, knocked her down and stomped on her head. She died in an effort to save somebody she didn’t even know.”
This is something that always pained Gaynor to discuss, understandably so, and likely unknowingly became injected into her live performances of ‘I Will Survive’ after the tragic events. Still, as the years go by, she hopes that the song will be a source of strength rather than suffering. “We all have situations and circumstances in our lives that we think are insurmountable,” she explained. “The song celebrates the tenacity of the human spirit to overcome. And that’s something everyone wants to feel.”
‘I Will Survive’ has been deemed one of the most historically and culturally important songs of all time. Released in the disco era, it has become a massive symbol of various groups and movements, including the LGBTQ+ community, who fell in love with its unapologetic flamboyance and the layers of meaning hidden beneath the surface.
Gaynor’s passionate and soulful delivery also adds an emotional element of authenticity to the track, showing that, no matter what you go through, you really can rise above it all and emerge from the other side, stronger and more powerful than ever.
