Burning Heart (song)

"Burning Heart"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky IV soundtrack
B-side	"Feels Like Love"
Released	November 1, 1985
Format	7" single, 12-inch maxi
Recorded	1985
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:53 (Album Version) 3:51 (Single Version)
Label	Scotti Bros
Writer(s)	Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan
Producer(s)	Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan
Survivor singles chronology
"First Night" (1985) "Burning Heart" (1985) "Is This Love" (1986)

"Burning Heart" is a song by Survivor. It was sung by Jimi Jamison^[1] and appeared in the 1985 film Rocky IV and on its soundtrack album.^[2] The single peaked at number 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks in February 1986, behind "That's What Friends Are For" by Dionne and Friends.

"Burning Heart", which is about an "all or nothing" battle, was inspired by the Cold War,^[3] as shown by lyrics such as "Is it East versus West?"^[4] and "Can any nation stand alone?" The Communist East versus Capitalist West conflict is reflected in the film by the fight in the boxing ring between Rocky and Ivan Drago.

The final solo and tremolo bar solos in the middle of the song were played with a Fender Stratocaster.

The song was used on the final episode of HBO's 24/7 documentary on the 2011 NHL Winter Classic. The song was used to describe the hype and East vs. West feel surrounding the Washington Capitals' Russian superstar Alexander Ovechkin, and the Pittsburgh Penguins' Canadian superstar Sidney Crosby, who were the focus of attention heading into the Winter Classic.

Music video

The music video for "Burning Heart" features Survivor giving a concert, mixed with scenes from the film Rocky IV.^[5]

Track listings

7" single

1. "Burning Heart" – 3:51
2. "Feels Like Love" – 3:20^[6]

12" maxi

1. "Burning Heart" – 3:51
2. "Eye of the Tiger" – 3:46
3. "Feels Like Love" – 3:20

Charts and sales

Peak positions Chart (1985/86) Peak position Austrian Singles Chart[7] 6 Dutch Mega Top 100[7] 2 Eurochart Hot 100 1 French SNEP Singles Chart[7] 2 German Singles Chart[7] 6 Irish Singles Chart[8] 2 Swedish Singles Chart[7] 5 Swiss Singles Chart[7] 1 UK Singles Chart[9] 5 U.S. Billboard Hot 100[10] 2 U.S. Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 11

Year-end charts End of year chart (1986) Position Dutch Top 40[11] 17 Swiss Singles Chart[12] 15 Billboard Hot 100 8 Certifications Country Certification Date Sales certified Physical sales France[13] Gold 1986 500,000 384,000

Jimi Jamison version

"Burning Heart"
Single by Jimi Jamison
from the album Empires
Released	September 1999
Format	CD
Recorded	1998
Genre	Rock
Length	3:51
Label	Epic Bros
Writer(s)	Jim Peterik, Frankie Sullivan
Producer(s)	Jimi Jamison
Jimi Jamison singles chronology
"Calling America" 1999 "Burning Heart" 1999 "Rebel Son (Live)" 2000

Jimi Jamison re-released a live version of "Burning Heart" on his album Empires.^[14]

Track listing

CD single

1. "Burning Heart" (Radio edit) - 3:50
2. "Burning Heart" - 3:51
3. "Burning Heart" (Remix version) - 6:00
4. "Eye of the Tiger (live version)" - 4:10

Other cover versions

• 2003: Seventh Avenue

References

1. Dave Thompson: Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story, S. 259/260 "burning heart"&f=false Google Books
2. King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 342. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
3. Billboard, 2 November 1985, S. 72 "burning heart" cold war&f=false Google Books
4. Daniel S. Papp: "Contemporary international relations: frameworks for understanding", Macmillan, 1988, S. 15 Google Books
5. Music video in Myvideo.de Archived December 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
6. "Survivor - Burning Heart (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
7. "Burning Heart", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
8. Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
9. UK Singles Chart Chartstats.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
10. Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
11. "Single top 100 over 1986" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
12. 1986 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
13. French certifications See: "Les Ventes" => "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" => "SURVIVOR" Infodisc.fr Archived 2012-03-07 at WebCite (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
14. "Empires: Jimi Jamison: Music". Amazon.com. Retrieved 2012-02-09.