Song vs. Song

"I Will Survive" was the "Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You)" of the 80's.

Rhiannon M

Maybe it's because I am A Gay, but "I Will Survive" has always been my preferred one of these two. I dig me some perseverance and not letting somoen toxic back into your life. Plus, I've heard Selena and Cam Clarke cover it in very different styles from Gloria Gaynor, and both are glorious in their own right.

Curt Clark

Ask me on a different day, I'd make a different vote. Both are classics.

I'll Think of a Clever Display Name Later

Tbh, Stayin alive is better because while it has that novelty falsetto, it overall has that unstoppable groove that you can never stop walking to.

Stayin' Alive is probably the more popular one, but I Will Survive fits the "overpowering" bill a lot more imo

"I will survive" tells more of a story than "Stayin' Alive" does, so - I dunno, let's go with that?

matt

“I will Survive” is the most iconic IMO. Also, I’ve never enjoyed the BeeGees in general, but “Stayin Alive” is also a classic.

Gilbert Cortes

I Will Survive; greatest B-Side of all time

To put it into the context of one of your pop song reviews, 'Stayin Alive' is fun's 'We Are Young', relative to 'I Will Survive' as 'Somebody That I Used to Know'.

Franco del Rosario

Stayin' Alive is fun but i Will Survive is powerful so it's an easy pick

Nir revel

Holy cow! Is I Will Survive way more popular than I think it is? I thought the Bee Gees were gonna win this easily

Stayin a live is a much more fun song, but I will survive is significantly better overall, and more important. The pacing of I will survive sets it apart too. Staying alive might have that great bass line but it also has eye rollingly bad lyrics as well as terrible falseto singing. I will survive has this epic build up and even it's covers by people like Tony Clifton and Cake show it can be done it a completely different light and still stand true

"Stayin' Alive" is a better disco song, but "I Will Survive" is a better song, period. The latter is the one that defies its genre, and still stands as an anthem. And whereas "Stayin' Alive" just sounds like a bunch of guys singing, "I Will Survive" sounds like Gloria Gaynor defiantly making a statement of her own strength. It holds up for a reason.

Harpo1987

In Australia one of our most beloved musicals is Priscilla: Queen of the Desert...featuring drag queen show girls on a road trip across Australia. "I Will Survive" is one of their big numbers. As an Aussie musical theatre geek "I Will Survive" takes it for me

I will survive is my jam! Staying Alive is used for CPR training I had to listen to it on repeat for an hour. It sucked all meaning out of it.

I will survive is powerful

Jennifer Miller

I'm truly surprised at the way the vote is going, because Stayin Alive is my jam. Used to sing that in the check out line at the grocery store, falsetto and all. Good times.

Max Eliaser

God, I've been playing that Song Pop phone game a lot recently, right? And, I swear, there are at least 5 different versions of I Will Survive on there...

Celery

This choice was almost impossible but I ended up on the side of Survive. Stayin Alive is great but doesn't have the soul power that Survive does, even with that bassline. Also looking forward to this!

Deanna Banana

While Stayin' Alive's groove is indeed iconic, I would ague that Jive Talkin' has a funkier bassline...which makes the disconnect when the lyrics kick in all the more jarring.

Kevin Schultz

This is so difficult, but Stayin' Alive is ICONIC, and that bass line makes it just ao tasty.

River G

The Bee-Gees were Australian.

Jon Heiman

They're both overexposed to death, but after all is said and done, "Stayin' Alive" wins out.

Jon Heiman

Even as a Bee Gees fan, I'd still prefer 'Survive'. I do like both songs, but 'Stayin Alive' is more lyrically hollow. Even after listening to it at least a thousand times, I only have a vague sense of what 'Stayin Alive' is about. To put it another way, 'Stayin Alive' is the definitive disco song. 'I Will Survive' is the definitive girl-power break-up song, and that has had far more impact in the pop music landscape today, influencing everyone from Beyonce to The Dixie Chicks to Kelly Clarkson.

Franco del Rosario

Stayin' Alive without a doubt. That bassline makes you want to find a chick and groove with her, or at the very least strut around a city while in your own world. You can't really dance to "I Will Survive" with a partner, since it is a break-up song. Although "I Will Survive" is one of the most iconic break-up songs in Billboard Hot 100 history.

Thomas Carmody

Stayin’ Alive has the better groove, but I Will Survive is a goddamned tour de force.

Matthew Abbott

Both are ideal for when I need a boost in the morning before I go to work but Stayin Alive has a better bassline and that's what does it for me.

Marisa

The patriot in me has to vote for Stayin’ Alive. But wow, go for the jugular three why don’t you

Ruby Quail

The campier the disco track, the better. Somehow Stayin Alive, despite being sung by possibly the dorkiest set of pop stars to ever exist, is too cool for its own genre, whereas I Will Survive starts with the god-damned cabaret piano and only jacks up the ham from there

'I Will Survive' with the caveat that it must be the Cake cover. Otherwise, 'Stayin' Alive'.

The Younglings Had It Coming

I'm offended that this is even a question. Survive

Oooh, such a tough choice. The fact that Stayin' Alive is used for CPR training is one of my favourite bits of trivia, but that's not a reason to pick it as a song. "I Will Survive" is the one I enjoy listening to more, so that's how I voted in the end.

Alina

The groove to Stayin' Alive is incredible, but Gloria can sing whereas Barry simply can't, so got to go with I Will Survive.

Teddy Haines

This was a tough one. Gloria's vocals are the tiebreaker for me. Survive.

apocalypsethen

I Will Survive barely wins out for me, solely because the lyrics are so great.

I have to go with "I Will Survive." Believe it or not, it was actually one of the very first, if not the first disco song I ever heard, haha.

Stayin' Alive is more definitively disco for me, in all its pop-disco/earworm glory. I Will Survive is more deeply resonant, however. But by the strict parameters of the question, I would call it for Stayin' Alive. I Will Survive is probably a better SONG, however.

Kevin Schultz

It's honestly insane to me how close this is. "Stayin' Alive" is one of the best pop songs ever created.

Anyway, I really love both of these songs, but I Will Survive takes it for me, just because I can picture getting annoyed by the vocals on Stayin' Alive. Both songs have unstoppable, incredible grooves.

Gordon Stearns

I like both of them, but Stayin’ Alive just runs away with it for me. There’s a big reason why he’s staying alive in a bad environment. It’s that despite his weird high-pitched voice, this guy is a supreme badass.

Ethan Michael Thomas

Your comments are about to have a lot of very conflicted gays.

Gordon Stearns