{"id":895718,"date":"2026-10-26T22:52:19","date_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:52:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895718\/"},"modified":"2026-10-26T22:52:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-26T22:52:19","slug":"these-3-iconic-floor-fillers-from-the-1970s-prove-that-pop-songs-can-have-brains-too","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/895718\/","title":{"rendered":"These 3 Iconic Floor Fillers From the 1970s Prove That Pop Songs Can Have Brains, Too"},"content":{"rendered":"

These three floor-filling pop songs from the 1970s<\/a> have more to them than meets the eye. They may be fun to listen to, but that doesn\u2019t make them simple. These tracks are smart songwriting efforts that bridge the gap between blithe pop and something heavier.<\/p>\n

[RELATED: 50 Years Ago Today, Tammy Wynette Scored Her Final No. 1 Hit With a Song Written by Her Secret Admirer (Whom She Later Married)]<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\tVideos by American Songwriter\t\t<\/p>\n

\u201cLast Dance\u201d \u2014 Donna Summer<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

This song\u2019s structure is smart songwriting. The slow intro features some of Donna Summer\u2019s most stunning vocals. It urges listeners to move onto the floor, knowing what\u2019s coming next. Once the beat kicks in and the song really gets going, it becomes one of the greatest strides in 1970s pop.<\/p>\n

\u201cI need you by me \/ Beside me to guide me \/ To hold me, to scold me \/ \u2018Cause when I\u2019m bad, I\u2019m so, so bad,\u201d Summer sings in this iconic song. The lyrics aren\u2019t particularly heady, but they are delivered in a way that could make any songwriter jealous. The slow build pays off beautifully.<\/p>\n

\u201cHeart Of Glass\u201d \u2014 Blondie<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

Blondie blended several sonic flavors in this iconic track, notably bridging disco and rock. \u201cOnce I had a love and it was a gas \/ Soon turned out had a heart of glass \/ Seemed like the real thing, only to find \/ Much o\u2019 mistrust, love\u2019s gone behind,\u201d Debbie Harry sings with airy, intimate vocals.<\/p>\n

You could just as easily dance the night away with this as you could sit back and really take in the lyrics. \u201cIn between \/ What I find is pleasing, and I\u2019m feeling fine \/ Love is so confusing, there\u2019s no peace of mind,\u201d the lyrics continue. These aren\u2019t just throwaway lines. They could be for the infectious melody, but the band chose to say something consequential about love instead.<\/p>\n

\u201cI Will Survive\u201d \u2014 Gloria Gaynor<\/p>\n

\t\t\tPlay video<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Play\"\/<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re not welcome anymore \/ You\u2019re the one who tried to hurt me with goodbye \/ Think I\u2019d crumble? \/ You think I\u2019d lay down and die,\u201d the lyrics to Gloria Gaynor\u2019s 1970s pop staple, \u201cI Will Survive\u201d, read. If these lines were sung with a melancholy tinge, people would revere them for their candor and rawness. Because of this song\u2019s floor-shaking beat, we don\u2019t give it the credit it deserves.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo, not I, I will survive \/ Long as I know how to love, I know I\u2019ll stay alive,\u201d the lyrics continue, telling a story of perseverance. This song might be danceable, but it has weighty heartbreak at its core.<\/p>\n

(Photo by Michael Ochs Archives\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"These three floor-filling pop songs from the 1970s have more to them than meets the eye. They may…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":895719,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[2616,88,216,17172],"class_list":["post-895718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-1970s","tag-entertainment","tag-music","tag-pop-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895718","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=895718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/895718\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/895719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=895718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=895718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=895718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}