Amichai’s Top 50/31 “I Will Survive”
I don’t remember this from elementary school days but Gloria Gaynor released ‘I Will Survive’ as a B Side in 1978 and it became #1 within weeks. And ever since. In 2016, the Library of Congress deemed Gaynor’s original recording of ‘I Will Survive’ to be “culturally, historically, or artistically significant” and selected it for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
I have danced to it, words by heart, screamed just right, sometimes with tears, sometimes at home, and on many a dance floor over the years, heartbreaks coming and going.
In her autobiography, Gaynor wrote “I wanted everybody—including myself—to believe that we could survive”.
So yes, again, today, because:
Oh, no, not I, I will survive
Oh, as long as I know how to love, I know I’ll stay alive
I’ve got all my life to live, I’ve got all my love to give
And I’ll survive, I will survive, hey, hey.
– Amichai
Amichai’s Top 50: Soundtrack of my life. 4/20-6-8 2019/Passover-Shavuot 5779
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