Gloria

Album

Branigan

Label

Atlantic Records

Genre

Synth rock

Composer(s)

Umberto Tozzi;Giancarlo Bigazzi;Jonathan King

Entered Chart

Jul 10, 1982

Peak Date

Nov 27, 1982

Released

June 1982

Recorded

1981 Studio Rusk Sound (Hollywood, California)

Catalog #

Atlantic 4048

B-Side

"I Wish We Could Be Alone"

"Gloria" was first released by the Italian pop singer Umberto Tozzi in 1979; his version was a hit in his home country and popular in other non-English-speaking countries in Europe. 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." He suggested Branigan cover the song, but she was skeptical. When they worked it up with English lyrics, she came around, and the song became a huge hit, this time in many English-speaking territories. In the original Italian version, the singer is longing for Gloria. In Branigan's version, she is addressing Gloria, whose head is scrambled over a guy. Gloria seems to be on the verge of insanity. "Are the voices in your head calling, Gloria?" Branigan asks. Umberto Tozzi wrote this song with the Italian composer Giancarlo Bigazzi. The Canadian songwriter Trevor Veitch, who wrote some of Sheena Easton's hits, worked on Branigan's version and is credited as one of the writers. After touring as a backup singer for Leonard Cohen, Laura Branigan signed with Atlantic Records after auditioning for their chairman, Ahmet Ertegun. Her first single, "All Night With Me," stalled at #69 in the US, but her next single, "Gloria," was a winner. She had an impressive run of hits over the next few years, including "Self Control," which went to #4. That one was also a cover of an Italian song co-written by Giancarlo Bigazzi. Branigan's output slowed in the '90s, and in the '00s she took stage work, starring as Janis Joplin in the 2002 off-Broadway musical Love, Janis. In 2004, she died of a brain aneurysm at 52. Branigan's version earned her a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Performance, Female. She lost to Melissa Manchester's "You Should Hear How He Talks About You." The song was also recorded by Sheila B. in French. Interestingly, each version of the song (the original Italian, the Laura Branigan version and the Sheila B. all have somewhat different lyrical meanings, and are not literal translations. >> Branigan's cover proved popular in non-English-speaking countries as well: In Germany, where the original Italian version went #2, Branigan's English rendition topped the chart. Branigan covered "Ti Amo," another Umberto Tozzi song, on her 1984 album Self Control. Again, the title was the same, but the rest of the words were translated (not literally). The St. Louis Blues of the National Hockey League started playing this at home games in 2019 after six of their players experienced the power of the song on January 6 when they were in Philadelphia for a game against the Flyers. The players went to a private club run by the mummers brigade The Jacks NYB, which had adopted "Gloria" as their theme song. That night, the Philadelphia Eagles of the NFL won an exciting playoff game against the Chicago Bears. The club played "Gloria," and the place went nuts. The players convinced the team to start playing the song at home games after wins, and the crowds loved it. The team, which missed the playoffs the previous year and were off to a sluggish start, upped their game and finished third in their conference. In the playoffs, they made a remarkable run, winning the first Stanley Cup in franchise history when they defeated the Boston Bruins. Meanwhile, The Jacks NYB, where the "Gloria" magic originated, became a Blues bar, embracing the team and admitting some fans even if they weren't members. There was renewed interest in the song in January 2021 after a video emerged of it being played at President Donald Trump's "Save America Rally" just prior to the storming of the United States Capitol.

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)