Continuing my look at the albums of 1977…
The Bee Gees’ contributions to the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack marked the high point for the disco era, but the Queen of Disco also made a mark in 1977. Donna Summer released two records that year, both ambitious concept albums.
The second of those, Once Upon a Time…, is a double album chronicling the fate of a young woman who heads to the big city to find success and love, only to fall on hard times before eventually meeting her Prince Charming.
The songs bleed into each other seamlessly so 16 tracks feel more like four, one for each of the album’s sides. Giorgio Moroder’s trademark production buoys each track on a bed of propulsive Eurodisco. It’s a hell of a fun listen.
The album’s first four singles all reached #1 on the Dance chart, but only ‘I Love You’ cracked the Top 40 of the Hot 100. Two years later, Summer’s next album, Bad Girls, would be her biggest-ever success, but this one finds her already peaking creatively.
Once upon a time
There was a girl
Who lived in the land
Of dreams unreal
Hiding from reality
Treated like a stranger
Living in her fantasies
Trapped within their world
[Verse 2]
Once upon a time
Her hopes had died
No one there to hear
Her futile cries
Living in a house of stone
No one on her side
Family in name alone
No place left to hide
[Refrain]
Once upon a time
Once upon a time, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
Once upon a time
Once upon a time, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh
[Verse 3]
Once upon a dream
A man will come
And give her everything
She wants and loves
But in the morning she’ll awake
To face the room around her
It’s just another lonely day
And bitterness surrounds her
Bitterness surrounds her
Meet Me In Montauk 