Music Monday: Gloria Estefan 1989
Thirty years ago, today, Get On Your Feet by Cuban-American singer/songwriter/actress/businesswoman Gloria Estefan debuted on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart, entering at #29. Released from the album Cuts Both Ways, it was written by John DeFaria, Jorge Casas and Clay Ostwald. It peaked at number five after seventeen weeks on the chart.
From Songfacts:
DeFaria is a guitarist/composer who has worked on a number of movies and TV shows. Casas and Ostwald are longtime collaborators with Gloria and Emilio Estefan and members of the late ’80s iteration of Miami Sound Machine (Casas the bass player, Ostwald on keyboards).
Estefan had several bigger hits but, Get On Your Feet became her signature song and the name of her 1989 tour, her first as a solo artist. That tour was cut short in March 1990 when she was badly injured in a tour bus accident. Estefan fractured vertebrae in her spine and had two metal rods placed in her back during surgery. During her recovery, this song took on new meaning, as it was a long struggle for Estefan to literally get back on her feet.
Trivia Bits
♦ The song was covered by Fantasia Barrino on the third season of American Idol during a Gloria Estefan-themed episode.
♦ The song was on the soundtrack to the movie Let It Be Me, starring Campbell Scott and Jennifer Beals (1995).
♦ The song was used in the fourth season episode of Parks and Recreation: The Comeback Kid.
♦ Gloria performed this song with Sheila E. during the seventh season edition of the American Idol charity fundraiser Idol Gives Back.
The Broadway Musical
Interview With John DeFaria
Lyrics (via LyricFind):
You say I know it’s a waste of time
There’s no use trying
So scared that life’s gonna pass you by
Your spirit dying
Not long ago
I could feel your strength and your devotion
What was so clear, is now overcast
With mixed emotions
Deep in your heart is the answer
Find it, I know it will pull you through
Get on your feet
Get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up and take some action
I think it’s true that we’ve all been through
Some nasty weather
Let’s understand that we’re here
To handle things together
You gotta keep looking onto tomorrow
There’s so much in life
That’s meant for you
Get on your feet
Get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up and take some action
Get on your feet
Don’t stop before it’s over
Get on your feet
The weight is off your shoulder
Get up and make it happen
Stand up, stand up, stand up and take some action
Gotta get on your feet, yeah, yeah
Don’t stop before it’s over
Get on your feet
The weight is off your shoulder
Get on your feet
Get up, get up, get up and make it happen
Get on your feet
Stand up, stand up and take some action
Get on your feet
Get up, stand up
Don’t stop before it’s over
You got to get on your feet yeah yeah
The weight is off your shoulder
Cosmic-Observation 
October 8, 2019 at 12:31 PM
Not my style of music but I respected her a lot. She wrote many of her songs and she did what she did very well. I remember that bus wreck took her out for around a year I think.
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October 9, 2019 at 1:13 AM
She was cute and her music was catchy. It was good to dance to. I don’t own any of her music.
Right about the time she recovered from her accident, Reba lost eight members of her band in March of 1991.
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October 9, 2019 at 10:54 AM
I forgot about Reba’s band that was awful…I’ve seen her before at a mall…she is not short but she is tiny…or was when I saw her…big hair.
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October 9, 2019 at 2:00 PM
She local to you?
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October 9, 2019 at 2:03 PM
No I don’t think she lives in my small little town…I saw her at Hickory Hollow Mall way back.
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October 9, 2019 at 3:05 PM
Is she in TN?
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October 9, 2019 at 3:22 PM
Yes in Lebanon TN….A small town near Nashville.
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October 9, 2019 at 3:54 PM
Ah! Cool.
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