Burning Heart (song)

"Burning Heart" is a song by Survivor. It appeared in the 1985 film Rocky IV and on its soundtrack album; the film's star Sylvester Stallone personally commissioned the song.^[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. It was the biggest hit the band had with Jimi 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"
Single by Survivor
from the album Rocky IV soundtrack
B-side	"Feels Like Love"
Released	October 21, 1985[1]
Recorded	1985
Genre	Hard rock
Length	3:51
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)

Content

"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.

Music video

The music video for "Burning Heart" features Survivor giving a concert, mixed with scenes from the film Rocky IV.^[5] A version with only the band (no movie footage) also exists, available on YouTube.

Track listings

7-inch single

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

12-inch 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 (1985–1986) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[7] 55 Austrian Singles Chart[8] 6 Belgium (Flanders) (Ultratop)[9] 1 Canada RPM Singles 14 Dutch Nederlandse Top 40 / Nationale Hitparade[8] 2 Eurochart Hot 100 1 Finland (Suomen virallinen lista)[10] 2 French SNEP Singles Chart[8] 2 German Singles Chart[8] 6 Irish Singles Chart[11] 2 South Africa[12] 27 Swedish Singles Chart[8] 5 Swiss Singles Chart[8] 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 Region Certification Certified units/sales France (SNEP)[18] Gold 500,000* Italy (FIMI)[19] Gold 50,000‡ United Kingdom (BPI)[20] Gold 400,000‡ * 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.^[21]
• 2003: Seventh Avenue^{[citation needed]}

References

1. "FMQB" (PDF). p. 38.
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 Internet Archive
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. 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.
8. "Burning Heart", in various singles charts Lescharts.com (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
9. "Survivor - Burning Heart - ultratop.be". Ultratop.
10. Pennanen, Timo (2021). "Survivor". Sisältää hitin - 2. laitos Levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla 1.1.1960–30.6.2021 (PDF). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. p. 251. Retrieved June 18, 2022.
11. Irish Singles Chart Irishcharts.ie Archived 2009-06-02 at the Wayback Machine (Retrieved March 31, 2009)
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. 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. Vol. 98, no. 52. p. Y-21. {{cite magazine}}: |last1= has generic name (help)
18. "French single certifications – Survivor – Burning Heart" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved November 19, 2021. Select SURVIVOR and click OK. 
19. "Italian single certifications – Survivor – Burning Heart" (in Italian). Federazione Industria Musicale Italiana. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
20. "British single certifications – Survivor – Burning Heart". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 25, 2024.
21. "Empires: Jimi Jamison: Music". Amazon. Retrieved 2012-02-09.