Eye of the Tiger
"Eye of the Tiger" is a song performed by the American rock group Survivor. It was released on January 1, 1982 and was written at the request of Sylvester Stallone for the film Rocky III. The song became a popular sporting event anthem, especially in boxing, and was for a short time the entrance theme for professional wrestler Hulk Hogan. This song has also been used satirically, such as the trailer and ad campaign for the Will Ferrell film, Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, released in August 2006.
The song topped the Billboard Hot 100 for six weeks from July 24 1982. It was preceded by "Don't You Want Me" by the Human League and followed by "Abracadabra" by the Steve Miller Band. "Eye of the Tiger" also reached number one in the UK and Australian charts. The song won a Grammy Award, an Academy Award nomination, and was voted "Best New Song" by the People's Choice Awards.
Dual meanings of the title
The song's title refers to a line in the movie Rocky III, meaning "killer instinct" or a desire to win. The "eye spots" on the back of tigers' ears serve to confuse predators and reduce the risk of attack from behind, and they are probably most useful for tiger cubs.
In the wild, seeing the "eyes" of the tiger signifies death, because right before a tiger attacks, it turns its ears forward so that the spot on the back of each ear faces nearer its prey. Hence, once someone sees these "eyes", the tiger is about to attack.
Covers and parodies
- Parodied by Survivor for a Starbucks TV advertisement. [1]
- Covered by The Temptations at the 55th Annual Academy Awards, when the song was nominated for song of the year.
- Parodied by CKY (featuring Brandon DiCamillo on vocals) in the movie Landspeed: CKY. The song is only available on CKY Vol. 2, which is out of print.
- Parodied by "Weird Al" Yankovic on his second album In 3-D. Entitled "Theme from Rocky XIII (The Rye or the Kaiser)". It was also later released on The Food Album.
- Gloria Gaynor on her 1983 failed comeback self-titled covers album.
- Covered in pop-punk form by Australian Idol contestantLee Harding as the B-side to his debut #1 single Wasabi
- Covered in heavy metal form by Vomitron.
- Covered in death metal by Ten Masked Men.