Draft lyrics for "On My Honor" by Donna Summer: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

Handwritten draft lyrics for the song, "On My Honor," by Donna Summer. The lyrics have been written on a large piece of white paper that has been folded into a four page booklet with a front cover, back cover, and two interior pages. The lyrics have been primarily written in dark green ink on all four pages. There are corrections, insertions, notes, and unrelated lyrics on the pages written in lighter green ink, black ink, and pencil. The first page includes a verse and the chorus. The name [Denise / (Paulette) / Duncan] has been added in light green ink to the top right. At the top of the second page is the text [Last Verse] followed by a single line of lyrics. The third page features the second verse plus pencil text that reads [Parliments[sic] / 100’s]. At the top left on the fourth page is the second chorus. This page also features three sets of unrelated draft lyrics written in horizontal and upside down orientations. The unfolded back of the sheet has doodles including a pencil sketch of a building with arched windows and a large, central bay window as well as handwritten notes including verb conjugations and numbers in Spanish.

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1978-1979
• Written by: Donna Summer, American, 1948 - 2012
• Subject of: Denise Duncan
• Type: drafts (documents)
• Medium: ink on paper
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Unfolded): 23 3/4 × 18 11/16 × 1/16 in. (60.3 × 47.5 × 0.1 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (Folded): 12 7/16 × 9 1/2 × 1/16 in. (31.6 × 24.1 × 0.2 cm)
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Communication
• Topic: Composers (Musicians)
• Topic: Disco (Music)
• Topic: Singers (Musicians)
• Object number: 2023.85.3
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The underlying object's rights statement is: © Estate of Donna Summer Permission required for use. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.