This week the nation was rocked by an act of barbarism, the likes of which this nation has never seen before.
I remember back in July of 1999, after we suffered the loss of JFK Jr., his wife and sister- in- law, Donna sang a tribute to him at her concert from the Jones Beach Theatre. She had the crowd in awe with her accapella reading of God Bless America. After she concluded she asked the crowd to turn and watch the flag, which was at half staff in John John’s honor. It was hard to have a dry eye through this as she helped us all through that moment of grief.
Back in the 1980’s, Donna wrote a song with David Foster called Silver Girl. Whether this song was intended for the Donna Summer album, or All Systems Go is not important at this point.
What is important is that Donna sang Silver Girl as part of her “mini-tour” of 1986. I say “mini-tour” as she mostly played casinos in these years, so she could have maximum time home to raise Mimi, Brooklyn, and Amanda .
This tour had two east coast stops that year, June at Resorts International, and October at Caesars'.
After she sang Silver Girl, she told the audience that she was very patriotic, “not because I think that America is perfect, but because we have the foundation that allows us to be the greatest nation in the world.” She further said that “I love this country and I’m dedicated to making it better”.
Donna gave us some insight to the song by saying how when one of her grandparents first saw the Statue of Liberty, they thought it was silver by the way that the sun light reflected upon it.
Silver Girl, quite frankly cuts right to the chase of why people continue to flock to the USA. I thought that in this time of national healing, everyone might enjoy the lyrics to Silver Girl. This is a song that many fans have never heard, nor is this song recorded anywhere (to my knowledge).
I remember MOST, but not all of the lyrics, as I did record the show and would listen to the tape often and as this was one of my favorite Donna concerts EVER. Sadly in August of 1998 I was in a car wreck, and although I was not hurt my car was destroyed, as was most of what was in it, including the tape of that show.
After Donna concluded Silver Girl, she then lead the audience through a very heartfelt version of America The Beautiful.
Silver Girl Donna Summer and David Foster
As we come from distant shores A new life to explore Tasting Freedom A new land to behold Oh freedom There’s a statue in the harbor Her light shines brightly For all the world
Wherever your coming from Whatever you are looking for Wherever your going to My heart is an open door.
Her lantern burns brightly Beneath is the beautiful silver girl
Her lantern burns brightly A source of light for all the world All the world This silver girl
This is America I’m in America We're in America