Song of the Day 3/6: Cake, “I Will Survive”

A song for Ukraine, which Putin thought would crumble, lay down and die. Not so far.

There have been nearly 200 covers of this song, in more than a dozen languages, since Gloria Gaynor’s original in 1978. Cake’s 1996 version is the only one I’ve heard that strips it down and gives the bass a prominent role, and John McCrea is the only singer who resists the temptation to over-emote the lyrics, mainly because he used that deadpan delivery for everything.

The song was written in 1976 by Dino Fekaris and Freddie Perren after they were fired by Motown after seven years as staff writers. The song remained unrecorded until Polydor hired Perrin to produce “Substitute,” a Righteous Brothers cover, for Gloria Gaynor, and let him pick and produce the B side. When Gaynor told him she liked “songs that are meaningful, have good lyrics, and touch people’s hearts, he gave her the lyrics of “I Will Survive.” She liked it immediately and tried to persuade the suits to make it the A-side, but “Substitute” was their choice. It reached No. 107 on the “Bubbling Under” chart. When Gaynor used connections to get “I Will Survive” played by radio and dance floor DJs it caught on and reached No. 1 on the Hot 100. It also won the only Grammy ever awarded for Best Disco Recording.