"Winter Melody" is a song by Donna Summer

Donna Summer

LaDonna Adrian Gaines , known by her stage name, Donna Summer, is an American singer/songwriter who gained prominence during the disco era of the 1970s. She has a mezzo-soprano vocal range. Summer is a five-time Grammy winner and was the first artist to have three consecutive double albums reach...

 released as a single in late 1976

1976 in music

-January–February:*January 5 – Former Beatles road manager Mal Evans is shot dead by Los Angeles police after refusing to drop what police only later determine is an air rifle....

 from her Four Seasons of Love

Four Seasons of Love

Four Seasons of Love is the fourth album released by singer Donna Summer. Released on October 11th, 1976, this concept album became her third consecutive successful album to be certified gold in the US...

album. It became a top 30 hit in the UK, where it peaked at #27.

By this time Summer was making her name as the queen of disco

Disco

Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...

music, though this song is a soul ballad. The song represented the "winter" phase of the concept album, and speaks of a woman struggling to come to terms with the fact that her relationship has ended. As with much of Summer's material at that time (particularly with songs found on her concept albums), the song played for a considerable amount of time (over six minutes), however, the song was edited for its release as a single.