We Will Survive

I Will Survive

Gloria Gaynor

At first I was afraid, I was petrified

Kept thinking I could never live without you by my side

But then I spent so many nights thinking how you did me wrong

And I grew strong

And I learned how to get along

And so you're back

From outer space

I just walked in to find you here with that sad look upon your face

I should have changed that stupid lock, I should have made you leave your key

If I'd known for just one second you'd be back to bother me

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

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?

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

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive, hey, hey1

It took all the strength I had not to fall apart

Kept trying hard to mend the pieces of my broken heart

And I spent oh-so many nights just feeling sorry for myself

I used to cry

But now I hold my head up high and you see me

Somebody new

I'm not that chained-up little person and still in love with you

And so you felt like dropping in and just expect me to be free

Well, now I'm saving all my lovin' for someone who's loving me

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye

Do you think I'd crumble

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

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

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive

Oh

Go on now, go, walk out the door

Just turn around now

'Cause you're not welcome anymore

Weren't you the one who tried to break me with goodbye

Do you think I'd crumble

Did you think I'd lay down and die?

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

And I've got all my love to give and I'll survive

I will survive

I will survive

We will survive. I feel for those who lost loved ones in the tragedy in Orlando. I know how hard it can be to lose someone you love. But we will survive. We will survive as individuals. We will survive as a community. We will survive as a country. We will survive.

When writing about the song in her book We Will Survive, Gloria Gaynor wrote, “I wanted everybody—including myself—to believe that we could survive." "I Will Survive" had a particularly large influence within the LGBT community at the time of its release. This was mostly attributed to the lack of acceptance of LGBT individuals at the time. Because of this, the song is often referred to as the Queer Anthem. The LGBT community is said to have identified with "I Will Survive" because the textual message of defiant and enduring presence was already well tailored to queer identification needs, but this message and the song’s titular statement took on even deeper meaning with the dawn of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s.

Since this is Pride Month, I had chosen to use various gay anthems for the poetry this month. Originally, "I Will Survive" was meant to be the last in the series, but in the wake of the tragedy in Orlando, I decided to use it this week instead because we will survive this tragedy.