For some reason I have quite a few versions of “I Will Survive” kicking around my hard drive. As I’ve mentioned before it’s the sign of a well-written song when it can stand up to being reinterpreted in many different styles. Since it’s a favorite song of my wife’s and she took me to dinner at a fancy restaurant on Friday I figured I’d do her a solid and devote this week’s post to the disco classic.

Makrosoft “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
I just love what they’ve done with this song. It sounds like the theme from some lost James Bond movie circa 1962.

The Puppini Sisters “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
It’s not too exciting when the Puppini Sisters cover the Andrews Sisters. But when they cover other songs in the style of the Andrews Sisters it’s well worth listening to. This one features wonderful vocal harmonies and a nice jazzy standup bass.

Action Camp “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
At the beginning of the song they talk about doing a “violent” version of the song and even talk about doing violent things to Gloria Gaynor. The result doesn’t seem all that violent to me, it’s just a very good alt-rock arrangement.

Celia Cruz “Yo vivire (I Will Survive)” (Gloria Gaynor)
At first you hear the tinkling piano and the breathless vocals and you think that it’s just the same arrangement as the original with Spanish vocals. Then the congas come in and you’ve got a tasty salsa tune on your hands.

Chantay Savage “I Will Survive” (Gloria Gaynor)
I said that I had a lot of versions of this song, I never said that they were all good. Sometimes I like sappy, overwrought versions of songs with unnecessary vocal gymnastics. Usually when Marc Almond is doing the singing. This song just sets my teeth on edge.  But I’ve got to admit that it’s pretty far removed from the original, and that’s the point of what I’m doing here.