‘I Will Survive’ added to recording registry

“I Will Survive” will survive — forever.

The Library of Congress announced Wednesday that it has added Gloria Gaynor’s anthem and 24 other sound recordings of “cultural, artistic and/or historical significance” to its National Recording Registry. The annual honor means that the best existing physical copy of the recording will be preserved at the library’s Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation in Culpeper, Virginia.

Pop-music selections this year range from the 1986 platinum-selling album “Master of Puppets,” by the heavy metal band Metallica, to “Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” a sunny, charttopping hit single in 1911 for the vocal group the Columbia Quartette (more commonly known as the Peerless Quartet).

My, how tastes change.

Acting Librarian of Congress David S. Mao selected the works from the recommendations of experts on the National Recording Preservation Board and from nominations submitted by the public. (To nominate a recording, which must be at least 10 years old, visit loc.gov/nrpb.)

The list also includes works by classical composers Gustave Mahler and Robert and Clara Schumann as well as the 1947 speech by U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall announcing America’s decision to provide aid to a Europe ravaged by World War II — a policy that became known as the Marshall Plan. Episodes from two radio shows were also feted: the long-running comedy “Vic and Sade” and “Destination Freedom,” a program that presented fictionalized portraits of such notable African Americans as Harriet Tubman and Jackie Robinson.

Reached at her home in New Jersey, Gaynor called the library’s selection of her 1978 monster hit “totally unexpected” — while also acknowledging that she knew she had a hit on her hands even before the song, about a woman overcoming a bad breakup, had been committed to vinyl. “I realized it when I read the lyrics” by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris, she says. Despite Gaynor’s faith in the material, the singer’s record label, Polydor, insisted on releasing “I Will Survive” as the B-side to the aptly named “Substitute.”

It wasn’t until radio stations started clamoring for it — fueled largely by the promotion of a Studio 54 DJ named Richie Kaczor — that the song was reissued as the A-side. “The stations called the company,” as Gaynor recalls, “saying, ‘Where’s this song that people keep calling and asking us for?’ The record company had to say, with much chagrin, ‘You’ve got it already.’”

“Survive” has become a larger cultural phenomenon in the years since its release, reinterpreted by numerous artists, and appearing over the closing credits of the Oscar-nominated 2015 film “The Martian.” Gaynor’s personal favorite cover version: Chantay Savage’s soulful, down-tempo 1996 remake. Her least loved? The version by the rock band Cake from the same year, which added a vulgarity to the lyrics.

“I thought it was unnecessary and a bit irresponsible to put profanity in the song,” says Gaynor, who became a born-again Christian in the mid-1980s. “Nobody needs to use that language.”

The moment Gaynor knew that “Survive” was different from her other songs came in 1990, when a suicidal young woman spoke to her after a concert. “She’d been having a lot of problems; she’d been depressed,” Gaynor says, adding that the woman told her the song saved her life. “That’s when it clicked — this is more than just a song.”

For Gaynor, the Library of Congress honor simply acknowledges what the world has already figured out. “The honor means that it will be purposefully preserved,” she says, “whereas the song itself has kind of been accidentally preserved, and passed down, without any real purpose, from generation to generation. It’s like a family heirloom, and now it’s like a family heirloom of the family of the United States.”

Other recordings joining the 2015 National Recording Registry, in chronological order:

“Let Me Call You Sweetheart,” Columbia Quartette (The Peerless Quartet) (1911)

“Wild Cat Blues,” the Clarence Williams Blue Five (1923)

“Statesboro Blues,” Blind Willie McTell (1928)

“Bonaparte’s Retreat,” W.H. Stepp (1937)

Mahler Symphony No. 9, Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra; Bruno Walter, conductor (1938)

“Carousel of American Music,” George M. Cohan, Irving Berlin, Johnny Mercer, Arthur Freed, Shelton Brooks, Hoagy Carmichael, others (Sept. 24, 1940)

The Marshall Plan speech, George C. Marshall (June 5, 1947)

Original soundtrack from “A Streetcar Named Desire,” Alex North, composer (1951)

“Cry Me a River,” Julie London (1955)

“Mack the Knife” singles, Louis Armstrong (1956); Bobby Darin (1959)

Fourth-quarter radio coverage of Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point game (Philadelphia Warriors vs. New York Knicks), Bill Campbell, announcer (March 2, 1962)

“A Love Supreme” (album), John Coltrane (1964)

“It’s My Way” (album), Buffy Sainte-Marie (1964)

“Where Did Our Love Go,” The Supremes (1964)

“People Get Ready,” The Impressions (1965)

“Mama Tried,” Merle Haggard (1968)

“Abraxas” (album), Santana (1970)

“Class Clown” (album), George Carlin (1972)

“Robert and Clara Schumann Complete Piano Trios,” The Beaux Arts Trio (1972)

“Piano Man,” Billy Joel (1973)

“Bogalusa Boogie” (album), Clifton Chenier (1976)

“Master of Puppets” (album), Metallica (1986)