Burning Heart (song)

"Burning Heart"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky IV soundtrack
B-side	"Feels Like Love"
Released	October 1985 (US) [1]
Recorded	1985
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:53 (Album Version) 3:15 (Single Version)
Label	Scotti Bros
Songwriter(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^[2] and appeared in the 1985 film Rocky IV and on its soundtrack album.^[3] 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. It was the biggest hit the band had with Jamison on lead vocals. It was also a Top 5 hit in the UK, Germany and several other European countries, and reached the Top 15 in Canada.

"Burning Heart", which is about an "all or nothing" battle, was inspired by the Cold War,^[4] as shown by lyrics such as "Is it East versus West?"^[5] 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. The song was also used in the sixth episode of the third season of Netflix original series, Santa Clarita Diet, "The Chicken and the Pear".

The song is featured in the enhanced versions of the 2013 game Grand Theft Auto V on the in-game radio station, Los Santos Rock Radio.

Music video[]

The music video for "Burning Heart" features Survivor giving a concert, mixed with scenes from the film Rocky IV.^[6]

Track listings[]

7" single

1. "Burning Heart" – 3:51
2. "Feels Like Love" – 3:20^[7]

12" maxi

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

Charts and sales[]

Weekly charts[] Chart (1985/86) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[8] 55 Austrian Singles Chart[9] 6 Canada RPM Singles 14 Dutch Nederlandse Top 40 / Nationale Hitparade[9] 2 Eurochart Hot 100 1 French SNEP Singles Chart[9] 2 German Singles Chart[9] 6 Irish Singles Chart[10] 2 Poland (LP3)[11] 30 South Africa[12] 27 Swedish Singles Chart[9] 5 Swiss Singles Chart[9] 1 UK Singles Chart[13] 5 US Billboard Hot 100[14] 2 US Billboard Album Rock Tracks[14] 11

Year-end charts[] End of year chart (1986) Position Dutch Top 40[15] 17 Swiss Singles Chart[16] 15 US Top Pop Singles (Billboard)[17] 8 Certifications and sales[] Region Certification Certified units/sales France (SNEP)[18] Gold 500,000* United Kingdom (BPI)[19] Silver 250,000 * Sales figures based on certification alone. Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

Cover versions[]

• 1999: Jimi Jamison released a live version of "Burning Heart" on his album Empires.^[20]
• 2003: Seventh Avenue^{[citation needed]}

References[]

1. ^ "Survivor singles".
2. ^ Dave Thompson: Smoke on the Water: The Deep Purple Story, S. 259/260 "burning heart"&f=false Google Books
3. ^ King, Alex P. (2004). Hit-parade — 20 ans de tubes (in French). Paris: Pascal. p. 342. ISBN 2-35019-009-9.
4. ^ Billboard, 2 November 1985, S. 72 "burning heart" cold war&f=false Google Books
5. ^ Daniel S. Papp: "Contemporary international relations: frameworks for understanding", Macmillan, 1988, S. 15 Internet Archive
6. ^ Music video in Myvideo.de Archived December 29, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
7. ^ "Survivor - Burning Heart (Vinyl) at Discogs". Discogs.com. Retrieved 2012-02-09.
8. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 301. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
9. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b c d e f} "Burning Heart", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
10. ^ Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-03 at WebCite (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
11. ^ "Notowanie nr 210/211" (in Polish). 5 April 1986. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
12. ^ "South African Rock Lists Website - SA Charts 1969 - 1989 Songs (A-B)".
13. ^ UK Singles Chart Official Charts Company (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
14. ^ Jump up to: ^{a b} Billboard allmusic.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
15. ^ "Single top 100 over 1986" (PDF) (in Dutch). Top40. Retrieved 21 September 2010.
16. ^ 1986 Swiss Singles Chart Hitparade.ch (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
17. ^ Nielsen Business Media, Inc (December 27, 1986). "1986 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. 98 (52): Y-21.
18. ^ French certifications See: "Les Ventes" => "Toutes les certifications depuis 1973" => "SURVIVOR" Infodisc.fr Archived 2012-03-07 at WebCite (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
19. ^ "British single certifications – Survivor – Burning Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved November 29, 2019.
20. ^ "Empires: Jimi Jamison: Music". Retrieved 2012-02-09.