Eye of the Tiger

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"Eye of the Tiger"
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 1981
Genre Hard rock
Length 4:06
Label Scotti Brothers
Writer(s) Frankie Sullivan, Jim Peterik
Producer Frankie Sullivan
Certification 2× Platinum (RIAA)
Survivor singles chronology
"Summer Nights"
(1982)
"Eye of the Tiger"
(1982)
"American Heartbeat"
(1982)

"Eye of the Tiger" is a song performed by the American rock band Survivor from the album Eye of the Tiger, released in 1982. It was written at the request of Sylvester Stallone for the film Rocky III. The original mix of the song, heard in the film, features tiger growls, though these are omitted on the album and single versions. It was later also redone by Journey.

"Eye of the Tiger" topped the Billboard Hot 100 singles chart for six weeks beginning July 24, 1982.[1] [2] The single was number two on the Billboard Top Pop Singles of 1982 year-end chart and number one on the Cash Box Top 100 Pop Singles year-end chart. "Eye of the Tiger" also reached number one in the UK, Irish and Australian charts. The single was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America in 1982, representing 2,000,000 records sold in the U.S.[3] Survivor won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocal for "Eye of the Tiger". The song received an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song and was voted "Favorite Song" by the People's Choice Awards (in a tie with "Truly" by Lionel Richie).

The song was listed at #21 on Billboard's All Time Top 100[4] and was named the 63rd best hard rock song of all time by VH1.[5]

Contents

[edit] Cover versions

[edit] Parodies, appearances in other media

  • The song appeared in the fourth season of the TV show Supernatural, and as an extra to the same episode, where Jensen Ackles lip-synched and danced to the song.
  • Jason Lee sings it to his father on the second episode of the fourth season ("Monkeys Take A Bath") of My Name is Earl.
  • In the Simpsons' episode "The Fat and the Furriest", the chorus of the "Eye of the Tiger" is played.
  • An altered version of the song by the band themselves was featured on a Starbucks Doubleshot commercial.[7]
  • 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. This song uncannily predicted that Rocky Balboa would end up running a restaurant late in life, as seen in Rocky Balboa.
  • The song is the official theme of the National Rugby League Team The Wests Tigers. It is played when they come out onto the field in every rugby league game.
  • The instrumental at the beginning of the song was often used as Baltimore Orioles Cal Ripken, Jr.'s batter introductory music.
  • An off-key version of the song is featured in the 2007 film Persepolis, performed by Chiara Mastroianni.
  • An episode of the Canadian show Degrassi: The Next Generation is named after this song.
  • Featured as a track in Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero World Tour, and the European version of Guitar Hero On Tour: Decades.
  • The song is played at the end of the Family Guy episode "The Cleveland-Loretta Quagmire," when Cleveland and Quagmire reconcile their differences as the shot fades to a watercolor-like painting.
  • The LSU football team's stadium contains a depiction of the "Eye of the Tiger" at midfield.
  • The LSU marching band plays the song every time the football team makes 3rd downs.
  • Was played in an episode of The Boondocks.
  • Is used during a comedy montage in the episode entitled 'Fat' of series five of the BBC comedy 'Two Pints of Lager and a Packet of Crisps'.
  • John McCain used this song to open and close campaign rallies during the 2008 U.S. Presidential campaign.
  • Conservative talk show host Sean Hannity uses the introduction as background music for his radio show's third hour (which is referred to as the "world-famous final hour free-for-all".)
  • In 2001, A song by DMX & Ice Cube was Remixed with Eye of the tiger, named "We Be Clubbin' (Eye of the Tiger Remix) for "The 24th Letter" by DMX.
  • The song is sung in the movie Asterix and the Vikings.
  • The song is currently being used as the theme song for Konnan in Asistencia Asesoría y Administración.
  • A remix of this song is located as a track in the game We Cheer (for Wii)
  • The song is frequently played at sporting events for the Clemson University Clemson Tigers.
  • It is also one of the fight songs for the University of Memphis Athletic Department.
  • Ben Stiller sings the song in the film Night at the Museum over the loudspeaker at the American Museum of Natural History at night.
  • Reed College plays the song on the hour, every hour, in the library lobby during finals week.
  • Many high schools that use a tiger as their mascot may use the song.
  • "Eye of The Tiger" is the title of episode one in the third season of The Bernie Mac Show. The character Jordan uses the song for his routine.
  • The television series "Las Vegas" episode "Fake the Money and Run" (first aired 9/26/2005) played a slow jazz version in the background during a poker game.
  • Darts player Raymond Van Barneveld uses it as his entrance theme.
  • The Israeli band Infection parodies the song in their 2005 album "Bekhef" (Hebrew: בכיף). The parody is also entitled Eye of the Tiger (Hebrew: עין הנמר).
  • In the Nickelodeon movie Spectacular! by Tammin Sursok, the group Spectacular uses it as their theme for the early part of the movie.
  • The "Krusty Krab Training Video" on SpongeBob SquarePants features theme music which bears a resemblance to the opening riff from "Eye of the Tiger." That song was called "Quest for the Best" by David Reilly of APM Music.
  • In the Jimmy Neutron episode Birth of a Salesman, you can hear Cindy Vortex say "Eye Of The Tiger", making a reference to the song. The opening can also be here in the background.
  • The song is featured in the movie Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd.
  • The song is played in series 2: episode 3 of Ashes to Ashes.
  • The song is played by the band at every varsity game at Breckinridge County High School in Hardinsburg, Kentucky.
  • A remixed version is used in the game clash of the idiots for ed edd and eddy.
  • In Scrubs, the song is played as the surgeon Todd wrestles a driver's license from an older patient.

[edit] Origin

The original melody in the song used by many film soundtracks was previously written by an unknown composer and adopted by Survivor for the song. The original melody differs slightly in pitch to the survivor song.


Preceded by
"Caught Up in You" by 38 Special
Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks number-one single
July 3 - 31, 1982
Succeeded by
"I 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 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

  1. ^ Bronson, Fred (2003). The Billboard Book of #1 Hits, 5th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 557.
  2. ^ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 8th Edition (Billboard Publications), page 616.
  3. ^ RIAA.com
  4. ^ "Billboard Hot 100 Special". http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/specials/hot100/charts/top100-titles-30.shtml. 
  5. ^ "spreadit.org music". http://music.spreadit.org/vh1-top-100-hard-rock-songs/. Retrieved on February 7, 2009. 
  6. ^ "Eye of the Tiger", by Amel Bent, in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved May 16, 2008)
  7. ^ The Inspiration Room - Starbucks Glen Roy and Hank
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