[Verse 1]
At first I was afraid, I was petrified
I kept thinking I could never live without you by my side
But then I spent so many nights just thinkin' how you'd done me wrong
I grew strong, I learned how to get along
And so you're back from outer space
I just walked in to find you here without that look upon your face
I should have changed my fucking lock, I would have made you leave your key
If I'd have known for just one second you'd be back to bother me
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, now go, walk out the door
Just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with desire?
Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?
[Chorus]
Oh, not I, I will survive, yeah
As a-long as I know how to love, I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give
I will survive, I will survive, yeah, yeah
[Guitar Solo]
[Verse 2]
It took all the strength I had just not to fall apart
I'm 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 with somebody new
I'm not that stupid little person still in love with you
And so you thought you'd just drop by and you expect me to be free
But now I'm savin' all my lovin' for someone who's lovin' me
[Pre-Chorus]
Oh, now go, walk out the door
Just turn around now, you're not welcome anymore
Weren't you the one who tried to break me with desire?
Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die?
[Chorus]
Oh, not I, I will survive, yeah
As a-long as I know how to love, I know I'll be alive
I've got all my life to live, I've got all my love to give
I will survive, I will survive, yeah, yeah
[Post-Chorus]
Ah-da-da-da, da-da-da-da
Ah-da, la-da, hey
La-da-da-da, da-da-da-da
[Outro]
One, two
Hey
Oh no
The profanity is a lyrical departure from the original (in which it is “that stupid lock”). This insertion led Gloria Gaynor to call it her least favorite interpretation of the song she made famous.
I haven’t heard all of them, but I really like the one by Chantay Savage. She made it her own rather than a carbon copy of mine. Another one was Gladys Knight. The one I don’t like is the one by Cake, because they used profanity.
In the radio edit, everything after “f” is censored with a record scratch, and in the music video is sung while singer John McCrea (playing a parking control officer) rips another parking ticket off his pad.
This line differs from the original lyrics by Gloria Gaynor. Here, ‘stupid’ replaces the word ‘lonely’, perhaps to convey a more harsh, angry, or vindictive feeling, rather than self-pity for how pathetic the singer was before. Instead of just calling themself weak and admitting it as a low point for them, it rather attacks the character of the subject before they moved on from whom the lyrics are targeted towards.