"Burning Heart" is a song by Survivor. It appeared in the

1985 The year 1985 was designated as the International Youth Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 ** The Internet's Domain Name System is created. ** Greenland withdraws from the European Economic Community as a result of a ...

film ''

Rocky IV ''Rocky IV'' is a 1985 American sports drama film written, directed by and starring Sylvester Stallone. It is the sequel to ''Rocky III'' (1982) and is the fourth installment in the ''Rocky'' franchise. It also stars Talia Shire, Burt Young, Ca ...

'' and on its soundtrack album; the film's star Sylvester Stallone personally commissioned the song. The single peaked at number 2 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 for two weeks in February 1986, behind "

That's What Friends Are For "That's What Friends Are For" is a song written by Burt Bacharach and Carole Bayer Sager. It was first recorded in 1982 by Rod Stewart for the soundtrack of the film '' Night Shift'', but it is better known for the 1985 cover version by Dionn ...

" by Dionne and Friends. It was the biggest hit the band had with

Jimi Jamison Jimmy Wayne Jamison (August 23, 1951 – September 1, 2014) was an American singer. Best known as Jimi Jamison, he earned recognition as the frontman for the rock bands Target (American band), Target, Cobra (American band), Cobra, and Survivor ( ...

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.

Content

"Burning Heart", which is about an "all or nothing" battle, was inspired by the Cold War, as shown by lyrics such as "Is it East versus West?" and "Can any nation stand alone?" The Communist East versus

Capitalist Capitalism is an economic system based on the private ownership of the means of production and their operation for profit. Central characteristics of capitalism include capital accumulation, competitive markets, price system, priva ...

West conflict is reflected in the film by the fight in the boxing ring between Rocky and

Ivan Drago Ivan Vasilyevich Drago (russian: Иван Васильевич Драго, ) is a Soviet-Russian fictional character from the ''Rocky'' film series. He first appears in the 1985 film '' Rocky IV'', in which he is the central antagonist and ri ...

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

Fender Stratocaster The Fender Stratocaster, colloquially known as the Strat, is a model of electric guitar designed from 1952 into 1954 by Leo Fender, Bill Carson, George Fullerton, and Freddie Tavares. The Fender Musical Instruments Corporation has continuousl ...

Other appearances

The song was used on the final episode of HBO's ''

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'' documentary on the

2011 NHL Winter Classic The 2011 NHL Winter Classic (known via corporate sponsorship as the Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic) was an outdoor regular season National Hockey League (NHL) game, part of the Winter Classic series, played on January 1, 2011, at Heinz Field in ...

. The song was used to describe the hype and East vs. West feel surrounding the

Washington Capitals The Washington Capitals (colloquially known as the Caps) are a professional ice hockey team based in Washington, D.C. The team competes in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference, a ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n superstar

Alexander Ovechkin Alexander Mikhailovich Ovechkin ( rus, Александр Михайлович Овечкин, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐˈvʲetɕkʲɪn; born 17 September 1985) is a Russian professional ice hockey left winger and captain of the Washington Capital ...

, and the

Pittsburgh Penguins The Pittsburgh Penguins (colloquially known as the Pens) are a professional ice hockey team based in Pittsburgh. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division of the Eastern Conference, and have playe ...

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

superstar

Sidney Crosby Sidney Patrick Crosby (born August 7, 1987) is a Canadian professional ice hockey centre and captain of the Pittsburgh Penguins of the National Hockey League (NHL). Nicknamed "Sid the Kid" and dubbed " The Next One", he was selected first o ...

, 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 Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fi ...

original series, ''

Santa Clarita Diet ''Santa Clarita Diet'' is an American horror-comedy streaming television series created by Victor Fresco for the streaming service Netflix, starring Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant. Fresco serves as the showrunner, and is an executive pr ...

'', "The Chicken and the Pear" as well as the fifth episode of the fourth season of ''

Cobra Kai ''Cobra Kai'' is an American martial arts comedy-drama television series and a sequel to the original ''The Karate Kid'' films by Robert Mark Kamen. The series was created by Josh Heald, Jon Hurwitz, and Hayden Schlossberg, and is distributed ...

'', "Match Point". 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 ''

''. A version with only the band (no movie footage) also exists, available on YouTube.

Track listings

; 7" single # "Burning Heart" – 3:51 # "Feels Like Love" – 3:20 ; 12" maxi # "Burning Heart" – 3:51 # "

Eye of the Tiger "Eye of the Tiger" is a song by American rock band Survivor. It was released as a single from their third album of the same name and was also the theme song for the 1982 film ''Rocky III'', which was released a day before the single. The son ...

" – 3:46 # "Feels Like Love" – 3:20

Charts and sales

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications and sales

Cover versions

*1999:

released a live version of "Burning Heart" on his album ''Empires''. *2003: Seventh Avenue

References

{{authority control 1985 songs 1986 singles Survivor (band) songs European Hot 100 Singles number-one singles Number-one singles in Switzerland Ultratop 50 Singles (Flanders) number-one singles Songs from Rocky (film series) Songs written by Frankie Sullivan Songs written by Jim Peterik Hard rock ballads Scotti Brothers Records singles Cold War in popular culture Boxing music