Week 90 – Gloria

Laura Branigan recorded this song in 1982 on her Branigan album.  Gloria reached #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 and it spent 36 weeks on the chart, it also went to #6 in the UK and it set a new record for a single by a solo female act at the time.  This Euro disco song ‘Gloria’ was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female in 1983, but she lost out to Melissa Manchester’s ‘You Should Hear How He Talks About You’.  This song was written by Italian composer Gaetano Bigazzi, Italian pop singer Umberto Tozzi, and Canadian songwriter Trevor Stanley Veitch.  Umberto Tozzi released this song in 1979 and it was popular in some non-English-speaking countries in Europe. 

Los Angeles keyboardist Greg Mathieson replaced Edgar Winter in White Trash, and from 1974-1976 he traveled with Helen Reddy around the world and then from 1976-1978 he traveled with Olivia Newton-John.  Greg played on two of the #1 hit singles from the movie sound track of Grease that featured Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta, those being ‘You’re the One That I want’ and ‘Hopelessly Devoted to you’.  When Laura Branigan started work on her first album, she was teamed with producer Greg Mathieson, who did the keyboards and arrangements on Tozzi’s ‘Gloria’.  Greg Mathieson suggested that Branigan should cover the song and they worked out the English lyrics. 

In Branigan’s version, she addresses Gloria who she is worried about, because she feels her head is scrambled over a guy.  Gloria seems to be on the verge of insanity if she doesn’t slow down.  Laura Branigan asks her, “Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?”.  She wonders if Gloria will change after she meets this new man in her life, or if Gloria because of her emotional instability is getting involved with someone that is on a rebound.  She thinks that Gloria is going to marry this guy for his money and she will never be satisfied with him, so she will have to find a lover. 

Gloria, you’re always on the run now
Running after somebody, you gotta get him somehow
I think you’ve got to slow down before you start to blow it
I think you’re headed for a breakdown, so be careful not to show it

You really don’t remember, was it something that he said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?
Gloria, don’t you think you’re fallin’?
If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody callin’?
You don’t have to answer
Leave them hangin’ on the line, oh oh oh, calling Gloria
Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria)
I think they got the alias (Gloria) that you’ve been living under (Gloria)
But you really don’t remember, was it something that they said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?

A ha ha, a ha ha, Gloria, how’s it gonna go down?
Will you meet him on the main line, or will you catch him on the rebound?
Will you marry for the money, take a lover in the afternoon?
Feel your innocence slipping away, don’t believe it’s comin’ back soon

And you really don’t remember, was it something that he said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?
Gloria, don’t you think you’re fallin’?
If everybody wants you, why isn’t anybody callin’?
You don’t have to answer
Leave them hangin’ on the line, oh-oh-oh, calling Gloria
Gloria (Gloria), I think they got your number (Gloria)
I think they got the alias (Gloria) that you’ve been living under (Gloria)
But you really don’t remember, was it something that they said?
Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?

(Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria)
(Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria, Gloria)

The challenge today is to focus on this song and use it for a short story, a piece of flash fiction, or a poem that you can share with the WordPress writing community.  There is no need to stick with this song, as if you like to write about another Laura Branigan song, or a song by Melissa Manchester, or Helen Reddy, or John Travolta, then go with that.  You might also go with a song that mentions a rebound relationship.  Maybe you could write a post about a song that hearing voices in your head.  If you would like to write about another song with the name Gloria in it, that would also work.  The whole point of this MM Music challenge is to get you to think, to trigger something so that you can show how creative you are and everyone is welcome to participate.  This challenge is very loose, so pretty much whatever you come up with will be acceptable.  I try to throw some ideas out there for you and if they seem right, then go with it.  You could write about falling in love and running after somebody, or having a breakdown. 

Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie brings you a dose of fetish, good friends and an incomparable muse and Dylan Hughes will be here next Friday on October 23 with her First Line Friday and she will provide the first line for your post and then you get to write whatever comes afterward, with the length, genre, and structure being completely left up to you.  I will be back on Friday, October 30 with another MM Music Challenge where we will discuss the song ‘I Think We’re Alone Now’.  When you are finished writing your post, create a ping back to this post, but you can also place your link in the comments section below if you desire.  This Mindlovemisery’s Menagerie MM Music challenge has a special feature called Mr. Linky, which will allow you to instantly link your post after you click the Mr. Linky Button, and permit everyone to read your post sooner that way, and then follow the directions that are given.

About newepicauthor

My About Me section is meant to provide my readers with an honest picture of myself that gives a little bit of background information on who I am and I will wrap this up with a catchy image. I am a story teller and I like to use my imagination. I am interested in many things, but a few of my favorites are watching the NFL and playing golf. I do not like onions and I always make sure that my food does not contain any. I had two wonderful parents, my dad Herb Adams was a television repairman and my mother Mary Adams was mostly a stay at home mom. They are both deceased now and I miss them. I am a retired Electrical Engineer specialized in control systems. I held many different positions because I worked mostly as a consultant. I did work as a Substitute Teacher, for a while, but the kids were awful. I am happiest when I am writing, as this gives my life has a purpose. Forming a sentence with meaningful words that articulate my inner feelings is an everyday quest for me. Every writer needs to tell their story, and all writers have their own style. All stories starts off with characters, who are able to entertain the reader. Creating realistic lovable characters is the best way to tell a story. If you are able to develop characters that become real to you, then you will know exactly what they will do say and do next and this lets your story progress to the completion. Writing changes everything and having the calling to create something new through the power of words is much more than just making marks on a page. Once written, a book can be used by many people to learn and be entertained. The act of writing can be compared to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle as it contains an inherent fuzziness, because various people may derive different meanings from reading the same words. You can never know the true nature of written words and the best I can do is hope is that people will understand the meanings that I am trying to convey. There are no clear-cut laws on how to write and it is impossible for me to determine how my readers react to my books.

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