Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), better known as Gloria Gaynor, is a… Read Full Bio ↴Gloria Fowles (born September 7, 1943), better known as Gloria Gaynor, is an American singer-songwriter born in Newark, New Jersey, USA. She is best-known for her disco era hits "I Will Survive" (Hot 100 #1, 1979), "Never Can Say Goodbye" (Hot 100 #9, 1974), "Let Me Know (I Have A Right)" (Hot 100 #42, 1980) and "I Am What I Am" (Hot 100 #82, 1983). Some of her other hits include "I Never Knew", "Just Keep Thinking About You", "Last Night", "Mighty High", "Be Soft With Me Tonight", "Strive", "Let's Mend What's Been Broken", "This Love Affair", "Love Is Just A Heartbeat Away" and "Casanova Brown".

Gaynor was a singer with the Soul Satisfiers, a jazz/pop band, in the 1960s. Her first solo single was "She'll Be Sorry/Let Me Go Baby" in 1965.

Her first real success came in 1975 with the release of her album Never Can Say Goodbye, which established her as a disco artist. The first side of this album consisted of three disco songs ("Honey Bee", "Never Can Say Goodbye" and "Reach Out, I'll Be There"), with no breaks in between the songs. This 19-minute dance marathon proved to be enormously popular, especially at dance clubs. All three songs were released as singles via radio edits, and all of them became hits. This album was so instrumental in introducing disco music to the public, that many later believed that Gloria Gaynor had been the first artist to record disco music. "Never Can Say Goodbye" became the first song to top Billboard magazine's dance chart - in that sense, she was the first. Capitalizing on the success of her first album, Gaynor quickly released her second album, Experience Gloria Gaynor, later that same year. While this album was also successful, it was not quite as popular as her previous album in the mainstream.

Some of her lesser-known singles, due to lack of recurrent airplay, include "Honey Bee", "Casanova Brown", and "Let's Make A Deal" which all became hits in the clubs and reached the Top 5 on Billboard's disco charts. After her 1976 album, I've Got You, Gaynor shifted from her hit production team to work with other productions. While it seemed like a good move, her subsequent producers did not seem to match Gaynor's vocal approach and style as well. This caused her the albums that followed, such as 1977's Glorious and 1978's Park Avenue Sound, to be regarded as merely good albums instead of excellent albums.

For the next few years, Gaynor would only enjoy a few moderate hits. However, in late 1978, with the release of her album Love Tracks, she climbed the pop charts again because of her now-signature song "I Will Survive". The lyrics of this song are written from the point of view of a woman, recently dumped, telling her former lover that she can cope without him and does not want anything more to do with him. The song has become something of an anthem of female emancipation, and is still a staple of office parties and karaoke nights. The song was awarded the first and only Grammy Award for Best Disco Recording in 1980 (the category was discontinued upon disco's fall from favor shortly afterward). In 1999, Pixar animator Victor Navone used this song to create an alien music video, which for a time, was a minor internet phenomenon.

Interestingly, "I Will Survive" was originally the B-side when Polydor Records released it in late 1978. The A-side, a song called "Substitute", then a recent worldwide hit for South African girl-group Clout, was considered to be more "radio friendly." Radio DJs flipped the record over, and audience response forced the record company to flip the songs, so that subsequent copies of the single listed the more popular song on the A-side. In late 1979, she released the album I Have A Right, which contained her next disco hit, "Let Me Know (I Have The Right)", featuring Doc Severinsen of The Tonight Show fame on trumpet solo.

Even though she exprienced difficulty having hit records in the U.S. after "I Am What I Am", the majority of her subsequent single chart on the UK Singles Chart. During the late 1990s and the 2000s, Gaynor returned to the American charts. She issued two albums, 2002's I Wish You Love and 2006's The Answer, that were well received with her fanbase.

Can'T Take My Eyes Off Of You
Gloria Gaynor Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

You're just too good to be true
I can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you

Pardon the way that I stare
There's nothing else to compare
The sight of you leaves me weak
There are no words left to speak
But if you feel like I feel
Then let me know that is real
You're just too good to be true
I can't take my eyes off you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely nights
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

I love you baby
Don't let me down I pray
I love you baby
Now that I've found you stay
And let me love you, baby
Let me love you

You're just too good to be true
I can't take my eyes off of you
You'd be like heaven to touch
I wanna hold you so much
At long last love has arrived
And I thank God I'm alive
You're just too good to be true
Can't take my eyes off you

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely nights
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely nights
I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

I love you baby

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right

I love you baby
And if it's quite all right
I need you baby
To warm the lonely nights

I love you baby
Trust in me when I say

Overall Meaning

Gloria Gaynor's Can't Take My Eyes Off of You is a classic love song that expresses a deep and sincere feeling of adoration towards the love interest of the singer. The song is a testament of how love is a powerful force that can make one feel alive and grateful for the experience. The lyrics describe how the singer finds it impossible to take their eyes off their lover because they are just too good to be true. They talk about how being close to them or holding them would feel like heaven because they are so deeply enamored with them.

The singer acknowledges that their fascination with their lover might be viewed as odd or intense, hence they apologize for the way they stare. Yet, there's nothing else in the world that compares to what they feel when they look at the person they love. The expression "I love you, baby" is repeated several times throughout the song as an affirmation of the singer's feelings of admiration and devotion towards their lover. The song ends on a hopeful note, with the singer asking their love interest to trust them when they say they love them and to let them love them even more.

In summary, Can't Take My Eyes Off of You is a stirring love ballad that works because of the authenticity of the emotions involved. The singer's passion and awe towards their lover are palpable, and the song expresses the fundamental human need for connection and intimacy in a powerful way.

Line by Line Meaning

You're just too good to be true
You are perfect, and I can't believe it's real

I can't take my eyes off of you
I am mesmerized by your beauty and can't look away

You'd be like heaven to touch
Being close to you would feel divine

I wanna hold you so much
I want to embrace you and never let go

At long last love has arrived
I have finally found true love after waiting for so long

And I thank God I'm alive
I am grateful for this blessing and feel alive because of it

Pardon the way that I stare
Sorry if I seem rude for looking at you so intently

There's nothing else to compare
No one else even comes close to your beauty and charm

The sight of you leaves me weak
You leave me breathless just by being here

There are no words left to speak
Your presence leaves me speechless

But if you feel like I feel
If you love me too, then we can be together

Then let me know that is real
Confirm your love for me and make it known that it's genuine

I love you baby
I am deeply in love with you

And if it's quite all right
If it's okay with you

I need you baby
I can't live without you, I long for you

To warm the lonely nights
To fill the emptiness that I feel when you're not around

Trust in me when I say
Believe me when I tell you that I love you and need you

Don't let me down I pray
Please don't break my heart, I beg of you

Now that I've found you stay
Now that we're together, please don't leave me

And let me love you, baby
Give me the chance to show you how much I love you

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Broma 16
Written by: Bob Crewe, Robert Gaudio

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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