Eye of the Tiger
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This article is about the song by Survivor. For other uses, see Eye of the Tiger (disambiguation).
| "Eye of the Tiger" | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Single by Survivor | ||||||||||
| from the album Rocky III Original Soundtrack and Eye of the Tiger | ||||||||||
| B-side | "Take You on a Saturday" | |||||||||
| Released | May 29, 1982 | |||||||||
| Format | 7" | |||||||||
| Recorded | 1982 | |||||||||
| Genre | Rock, hard rock | |||||||||
| Length | 4:06, 3:45 (Single) | |||||||||
| Label | Scotti Brothers | |||||||||
| Writer(s) | Frankie Sullivan, Jim Peterik | |||||||||
| Producer | Frankie Sullivan | |||||||||
| Certification | 2× Platinum (RIAA) | |||||||||
| Survivor singles chronology | ||||||||||
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"Eye of the Tiger" is a single by American rock band Survivor, from their third album Eye of the Tiger. It was released as a single on May 29, 1982, the same year as the album. It was written at the request of actor Sylvester Stallone, who was unable to get permission for Queen's "Another One Bites the Dust". The song was to be the theme song for the movie Rocky III in which he was playing the main role. The movie version of the song is different from the album version because it features tiger growls. It gained tremendous MTV and radio airplay and topped charts worldwide in 1982. It is memorable for its famous guitar riff and anthemic chorus.
In an interview with Songfacts, co-writer Jim Peterik explained the song's title.
At first, we wondered if calling it 'Eye of the Tiger' was too obvious. The initial draft of the song, we started with 'It's the eye of the tiger, it's the thrill of the fight, rising up to the spirit of our rival, and the last known survivor stalks his prey in the night, and it all comes down to survival.' We were going to call the song 'Survival.' In the rhyme scheme, you can tell we had set up 'rival' to rhyme with 'survival.' At the end of the day, we said, 'Are we nuts?' That hook is so strong, and 'rival' doesn't have to be a perfect rhyme with the word 'tiger.' We made the right choice and went with 'Eye Of The Tiger'.[1]
The song has been used many times to introduce large events such as sports matches, concerts, and political rallies; Newt Gingrich, for instance, has used it at his events since 2009, and in early 2012 was asked by the song's creators to stop doing so. As of January 2012[update], they have sued Gingrich to demand he cease playing it and to compensate them.[2]
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[edit] Critical acclaim
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) |
- Voted by VH1 number 63 on its list of 100 greatest hard rock songs of all time.
- Listed as one of the best selling singles of all time because of selling more than 7 million copies (more than 4 million in USA and almost million in UK and France).
- It is regularly cited as one of the greatest sport songs of all time.
- Regularly holds place among top ten positive/motivational songs list.
- It was voted Best New Song by the People's Choice Awards in 1982.
- It was voted "Favorite Song" by the People's Choice Awards (in a tie with "Truly" by Lionel Richie) in 1982.
- It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song.
- It is listed by DigitalDreamDoor number 63 on its list of Top 100 Rock Anthems.
- Kerrang! named it number 3 on its list of 5 singles of the year 1982.
- It is listed by DigitalDreamDoor number 13 on its list of 100 greatest songs from 1982.
- Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Eye of the Tiger".
[edit] Chart position
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This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011) |
- It was #1 song of 1982.
- It was number one on the Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles of 1982 year-end chart.
- It was number two on the Billboard Top Pop Singles of 1982 year-end chart.
- Listed number 82 on list of Top 200 Best Selling UK Singles of All Time.
- Listed number 21 on Billboard's All Time Top 100.
[edit] Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Italy (FIMI)[3] | Gold |
| United Kingdom (BPI)[4] | Gold |
| United States (RIAA)[5] | 2× Platinum |
[edit] Cover versions
- In 1982, Sylvie Vartan covered it in French as "Faire quelque chose".
- In 1990, The Shadows recorded an instrumental, guitar-led version for their 24th official album "Reflection", reaching #5 in the UK charts.
- In 1995, the year of his world championship, Boxer Frank Bruno released a cover version. It reached #28 in the UK charts.
- Alvin and the Chipmunks covered this in 1982 for the album The Chipmunks Go Hollywood.
- In 1999, German power metal/neoclassical metal band At Vance included a cover of the song for their debut album No Escape.
- In 1999, CKY included a cover of the song on the compilation album Volume 2.
- The New Deal, a live electronica band from Toronto, occasionally covers the song in concert.
- In 2000, Australian band Regurgitator recorded a cover version of the song, titled Comeback (Eye Of The Tiger) for their Crush The Losers EP.
- In 2003, Finnish melodic death metal band Withering recorded a cover version of the song.
- American indie artist Josh Joplin recorded an acoustic folk cover of the song.
- In 2005, Paul Anka released a swing jazz cover on his album Rock Swings.
- In 2006, the song was covered by Amel Bent where it reached #2 in France, #13 in Belgium and #32 in Switzerland.[6]
- Punk rock band Green Day performed the intro of the song on several occasions.
- Rappers DMX and Ice Cube covered the song.
- In 2006, Australian pop artist Lee Harding included a cover of the song on his debut album What's Wrong with This Picture?
- It has been covered by Incubus.
- Judith Owen recorded a jazz version for her album Here, also released in 2006.
- In 2007, Vomitron covered the song on their self titled album on MySpace.
- In 2010, Lorena covered the song on her second studio album De Pelicula.
- In 2010, Ten Masked Men covered the song on the album Attack Of The Ten Masked Men.
- In 2010, Great White covered the song on the album Covered In '80s Hits.
- In 2009, the Belgian acappella group Voice Male recorded a cover of the song for their album "At The Movies".
- The song is covered in the 2009 Nickelodeon movie Spectacular! by Tammin Sursok.
- The song has been covered recently[when?] by The Jonas Brothers, albeit with a negative reception; some of the main criticisms being the lyrics sung by female vocalist Demi Lovato and an overuse of the crash cymbals on the drum track.
- The song has been parodied on Double Take called "Guys From Al-Qaeda".
- The song was sung by Stan Walker during Power Ballads Night on Australian Idol.
- It was also covered by 2010 X Factor Australia winner Altiyan Childs for his self-titled debut album.
[edit] Appearances in other media
- An altered version of the song by the band themselves was featured on a Starbucks Doubleshot commercial.[7]
- this song also appeared in the film Kicking & Screaming (2005 film).
- Appeared on Pop Idol series one (UK precursor to American Idol) where the rendition by Warren Wald was famously torn apart by Simon Cowell.[8][9]
- A parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic entitled, "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)", was included on his In 3-D album from 1984.
- Amel Bent's cover was heard on Asterix's 2006 animated film Asterix and the Vikings.
- Has appeared commonly as a previous soundtrack in various Kelloggs Frosties advertisements.
- In the Comedy Central Roast of Charlie Sheen, the song is played during footage from his appearance in multiple films and sitcoms, referencing to his claim that he has tiger blood.
- In the film Persepolis, the lead character Marjane sings the song during one sequence.
- Linda McMahon left the stage to the song after her speech at her victory party, when she had won the Connecticut Republican primary in 2010.[10]
- In the seventh episode, Bells, from the first season of Fox's sitcom New Girl, a group of kids who are couched by main character Jess, plays this song with bells.
- Newt Gingrich presidential campaign, 2012 song used for stage enternce.
- An epic lip sync to this song was performed by Jensen Ackles as a bonus feature on the CW's Supernatural (Episode 4.06 "Eye of the Tiger")
| Preceded by "Caught Up in You" by 38 Special |
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single July 3, 1982 – July 31, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Think I'm in Love" by Eddie Money |
| Preceded by "Don't You Want Me" by The Human League |
Billboard Hot 100 number one single July 24, 1982 - August 28, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band |
| Preceded by "Come on Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners |
UK Singles Chart number one single 4 September 1982 - 25 September 1982 |
Succeeded by "Pass the Dutchie" by Musical Youth |
| Preceded by "Abracadabra" by Steve Miller Band |
Australian Kent Music Report number-one single September 20, 1982 - October 25, 1982 |
Succeeded by "Come On Eileen" by Dexys Midnight Runners |
[edit] References
- ^ Jim Peterik interview with Songfacts
- ^ Prins, Henrico (1 January 2012). "'Gingrich mag Eye of the Tiger niet meer draaien' - Verkiezingen in de Verenigde Staten". de Volkskrant. http://www.volkskrant.nl/vk/nl/4004/Verkiezingen-in-de-Verenigde-Staten/article/detail/3145918/2012/01/31/Gingrich-mag-Eye-of-the-Tiger-niet-meer-draaien.dhtml?utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=20120131. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
- ^ "Italian single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger" (in Italian) (PDF). Federation of the Italian Music Industry. http://www.fimi.it/temp/cert_GFK_download_022012.pdf. Retrieved 2 January 2012.
- ^ "British single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger". British Phonographic Industry. http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/search.aspx. Retrieved 2 January 2012. Enter Eye of the Tiger in the field Search. Select Title in the field Search by. Select single in the field By Format. Click Go
- ^ "American single certifications – Survivor – Eye of the Tiger". Recording Industry Association of America. http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?artist=%22Eye+of+the+Tiger%22. Retrieved 2 January 2012. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
- ^ "Eye of the Tiger", by Amel Bent, in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved May 16, 2008)
- ^ The Inspiration Room - Starbucks Glen Roy and Hank
- ^ TVNZ Celebrities of Reality TV
- ^ Pop Idol Performance
- ^ Bai, Matt, "The Great Connecticut-Country-Club Crackup", The New York Times, September 23, 2010 (September 26, 2010 p. MM42 of the Sunday Magazine). Retrieved 2010-09-24.
[edit] External links
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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (January 2009) |
Categories:
- Singles certified gold by the Federation of the Italian Music Industry
- Singles certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry
- Singles certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America
- 1982 singles
- 2006 singles
- Survivor songs
- Amel Bent songs
- Billboard Hot 100 number-one singles
- Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Australia
- European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles
- UK Singles Chart number-one singles
- Irish Singles Chart number-one singles
- Number-one singles in Finland
- Number-one singles in Norway
- Oricon International Singles Chart number-one singles
- RPM Top Singles number-one singles
- Rocky music
- Songs from films
