I love when covers don't try to 'better' the original, but simply be it's own thing. This is a perfect example of that.

In Gloria's version she sounds powefull and conviced and reborn, yelling at the world that she will survive. In this version, however, he sings like he's trying to convince himself that he can survive. Love it.

The phrasing of this cover is pure genius.

One of the best covers of pop history

2nd time i had cancer, i listened to this band hours and hours. this song is my go to song. I WILL SURVIVE

Take a 70's disco song, slow it down, add a funky bass track and some jaded vocals like only Cake can do. Genius!

日本人の女です。私が中学生の頃たまたまKZfaqでcakeの存在を知ってから気に入って聴きまくっていました。27歳になった今聞いてもやっぱり大好きです！最高にかっこいい！

Playing the bass to this song is such a jam

Who loves the bass line?

Cake was such a great band, after all these years, I still come back to them.

Gloria's is powerful, as if she were singing for her life. Cake's cover is sarcastic. As if it were the rebuttal to a bitter ex saying "Good luck living without me!" Honestly I think it's genius.

This is the most deadpan of all the deadpans in all the recorded history. What a deadpan I'm really envious ... how did he managed to get it. The bass line is a killer, it makes the whole song enjoyable and a masterpiece.

Those beats. Still listening over 20 years later.

Love that the bass player gets credit where it’s due. His contribution to this song makes it. ❤️

Cake is so underrated. Such a great band,

Cake wouldn't be Cake without the trumpet

I'd like to say the bass is EVERYTHING, but the vocals are on point the guitar is ripping, the drums are hitting it, The whole video is a gem. Of it's time c. 1996 San Francisco. .

What a great cover. The guitar, the bass, the voice, everything...

1:59 He's going for distance!!! He's going for speeeeeeeed!!!

I will never ever tire of the way that trumpet kicks in. It's only a brief moment but the impact it has and the emotion it brings is fuckin BIG.

heartbroken but still doing his job perfectly i love this guy

I think this was an important song to cover. because men's hearts get broken too

Cake... was WAYYY ahead of their time! Noone can deny!

Now 2024, who's stay listen this song like me??

Honestly one of the most under-rated covers ever

When people say there aren't good covers it's because they've never seen this masterpiece

Cake is such an awesome band! The timing of the vocals on this song is just an absolute layed-back masterpiece! Not to mention the bass part which I played many times 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

Grew up with the original and I actually FEEL this version so much more!!! Bass line is everything!

Love the way he hangs back the vocal so the band gets that lay back sound apart from lead guitarist …very original and great rendition

It sounds like a drunk guy singing this at a karaoke party, and still, its fire.

The lyrics get a whole new meaning depending on how they're delivered and this is a fantastic delivery.

Five years later and I can’t explain why this is…. Genius.

i love his timing he is always offbeat and find back in like its nothing ... great musican !!!!!

They Freakin' Kill It. Amazing bass, guitar, drums, and vocals.

This is what we called a "perfect song".

I loved the Gloria Gaynor version from the time it came out but man...this Cake version, so good! Just discovered Cake...and I love them.

One of the best covers ever... simply everything works

John McCrea sounds like someone trying to read, but is stuttering through the words. And yet, it works.

Band ini sangat keren , mengingatkan kembali ke jaman sekolah.

A parking enforcement agent driving around doing his job while singing I Will Survive. Only Cake can make it great !

that is BRILLIANT Bassline

aways been a great band with such a UNIQUE sound. Love the emphasis on bass and the inclusion of brass. this cover shows how unique they can be.

Only knew the iconic Gaynor version but discovered this today thanks to my husband.

Arguably the greatest cover of all-time. I keep coming back. Perfection 👌🏼

At first I was afraid I was petrified I kept thinking I could never live without you by my side But then I spent so many nights Just thinking how you'd done me wrong I grew strong I learned how to get along And so you're back From outer space I just walked in to find you here Without that look upon your face I should have changed that fucking lock I would have made you leave your key If I had known for just one second You'd be back to bother me Oh now go Walk out the door Just turn around Now, you're not welcome anymore Weren't you the one Who tried to break me with desire? Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh not I I will survive Yeah As Long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive I've got all my life to live I've got all my love to give I will survive I will survive Yeah, yeah It took all the strength I had Just not to fall apart I'm trying hard to mend the pieces Of my broken heart And I'vr spent oh so many nights Just feeling sorry for myself I used to cry But now I hold my head up high And you see me With somebody new I'm not that stupid little person Still in love with you And so you thought you'd just drop by And you expect me to be free But now I'm saving all my lovin' For someone whose lovin' me Oh now go Walk out the door Just turn around Now, you're not welcome anymore Weren't you the one Who tried to break me with desire? Did you think I'd crumble? Did you think I'd lay down and die? Oh not I I will survive Yeah As long as I know how to love I know I'll be alive I've got all my life to live I've got all my love to give I will survive I will survive Yeah, yeah Oh no

They say the best covers are when you can truly make someone else’s song sound like your own. I think they easily accomplished that

the bass in this song.. so catchy fashion nugget is one of my favorite albums of all time

I like this version as much as the original. Does that mean that I’m having my CAKE and eating it too?

Well over 25 years later, I enjoy this version as much as I did in the mid-90s.

I've been a Gloria Gaynor fan since 1978, however this cover by CAKE is by far the utmost satisfactory exemplary astounding and reinvigorating sound I've heard since that year. I was born in 1994, don't get me wrong. I Will Surivive.

The trumpet solo is rock 🔥❤

This song helped me through my first breakup and now again it's helping me get through my second breakup. The pain of losing my ex hurts alot right now but I know I will be okay someday, until then I will listen to this song on repeat. Thank you CAKE

I prefer this version of the song over the more famous one because that one feels kind of glamourous. This one is more like what being jilted actually feels like - trying to claw back some dignity and learning to function as a human being again whilst not being able to get time off your shitty job.

Man, I love Cake's rhythm section. Tight and funky! Just how I like my women!

Not only is it a great song but I love the video concept of a cop who doesn't give a shit about doing his job

OMG I remember when I started playing guitar I almost broke my cassette player trying to learn this solo. It was so hard to me at the time i eventually gave up. Proud to say 20 years later I learned this solo within minutes. Progress, no matter how small.

Really, really. Good. I love a great cover where someone makes the song their own. So many artists will lazily play the song straight and offer nothing new. Cake rearranged the song and owned it. Well done 👏

2019 and still a favorite 😊 Holy moly, thanks for all the like. Who would of had a clue this would get so many likes. Updated May 2021

It's May 31 2023 & This Shit Still Kicking!

The Bass 🔥

that is BRILLIANT Bassline What a great cover. The guitar, the bass, the voice, everything...

Excelente canción, excelente grupo, Cake es sinónimo de buena música, los escucho desde años. Saludos desde Lima, Perú.

Dude running at 1:59 is from the video for "The Distance". A cool touch.

I love when bands do a cover and don’t try to sound like the original and instead put their own sound into it!

Man I love this song! The guitar, the bass, it’s ALL GOOD! Takes me back to a time when things were simpler and fun!

Listened to this song on repeat for months years ago. Here I am, it seems i've survived :)

Love this song. The bass is doing a great job too.

I stumbled upon this song and now I’ve heard it thrice in loop. That bass line is what my dreams are made up of!

Omg, i'm just fall in love for this song

Best freaking cover ever. Been addicted to your music for decades... its rock, country, jazz.. you rule.

it's simple music, but binds everyone's heart until now

Oh man I love this song! Everything about it. Vocals, bass line, guitar solo, acoustic guitar. Takes me back to the good times of high school. Also every time I pick up a bass I have to play this song.

If you ever need to show the positives of the cover version of classic songs, then this is the one.

the guitar tone here is just perfect, so underrated, so gorgeous

2nd time i had cancer, i listened to this band hours and hours. this song is my go to song. I WILL SURVIVE Who loves the bass line?

In a non-English-speaking country. 14 yrs old of me playing this song and Santeria with my band. No one understand wtf the song I sang. Such a good time back then. Ohh memories

I love that trumpet.

Best cover of all time, such a Gen X anthem.

That freaking badass bass, man!!

As a child of the 70 we like Disco, rock and country, we did it all. This version ROCKS too

MAGNIFICENT RENDITION !!!

The bass playing the lyric melody is awesome.

This will be the song to play at the end of my funeral procession, with the best warmth sounding large klipsch heresy speaker blasting it out.

A cover WORKS when it adds a new layer to the song. This one does that. I love Gloria Gayner's version for its undying optimism and I love its more visceral telling of the same tale.

Somehow, this gave me nostalgia

These guys are so underrated. They're the kings of ironic nerdiness

Cake's arrangements and lyrics are brilliant and played with skill.

First time seeing the video, and I'm impressed by the brilliant sad humor of a meter reader pouring out his heart alone while doing day-into-night drudgery, giving out tickets to those who are actually living. This kind of video shows off his quirky and very smart storytelling that pervades the lyrics in his albums... and so many people who don't take the time to really seek meaning in Cake's lyrics dismiss them, but they're actually quite masterful. (And yes, I know this is a cover and not John's lyrics - I'm talking about John's storytelling through this video and through his non-cover lyrics.)

Soundtrack to "It's not a Cakewalk But Life is Worth Living and Being Grateful"

When I was 13, my parents decided to separate. I already had a CD player so Mum bought me this "Fashion Nugget" because she knew I liked this band from mTV. I listened to this song relentlessly through my headphones in the crappy apartment that she rented. I was so far from my friends; I was so alone and desperate... But I listened to this song and I knew - I wasn't done. I was going to keep on keeping on. I was going to survive. ...And here I am, 27 years later. I survived. Just like you WILL survive.

I just listened yesterday for the first time and I can't stop listening I love it 😍

that is just one of those covers that can be called perfect, the bass, the damn solo, everything just incredible

The level of confidence you belt the first 3/4 out is always over shadowed by the last 1/4 wishing they didn't leave 😂 One day I'll finish this song as gloriously as I start it.

I was 15 when this came out I'm 40 now it's insane how time flies

この人達のカバー懐かしすぎ！ 偶然見つけた、25年以上前に輸入盤買ったなぁ

Such a badass cover. Never gets old.

okey, this has to be said... Cake has the sexiest bass lines

Man, that bass is ridiculous!

I needed to hear this a couple times, now I'm ready to kick ass today.

Everytime I love the cover song more than the original, I feel guilty. And this is one of the song.