I don't know if Eye of the Tiger is any good. I think it probably isn't. It embodies that generically bland, American AOR sound that was so prevalent in 1982 and was only going to become more omnipresent, tyrranical and frankly oppressive as the decade went on and got worse. As for Survivor, judging by this they had absolutely no individual or useful qualities whatsoever. They were one of a herd of as good as identical utterly American maintream drosshair bands who seemed to consider their lack of personality an actual asset. Do you know a second song by Survivor. Does anybody know a second song by Survivor?
Still, I like Eye of the Tiger now. Certainly a lot more than way back then, when it ruled the airwaves and stayed for a considerable time at Number One both in the UK and across the pond. This liking has absolutely nothing to do with anything intrinsic about the music itself or, heaven forbid, the fact that it was the theme tune for the Rocky III soundtrack. I still haven't been able to sit through a single one of those films, even all this time later. I really don't have enough irony in my DNA for that.
No, I like it because it's daft and harmless. Because it strikes a meaningless pose that you know very well is just a meaningless pose. Because the tune's not bad. Beause I once saw a colleague from New Zealand in a German bar in the early Nineties dancing to it without the remotest hint of actual irony of any sort. I like it because it's unashamedly dumb.
There's a reference in While We're Young which sums it up and I think explains why listening to it now is different from how listening to it in 1982 felt. It's the moment when Ben Stiller is handed headphones by the young hipster to give him confidence for a forthcoming challenge while the song is playing and says, 'I remember when this song was just considered bad...' Eye of the Tiger is probably still just bad. But it's as good a reminder of what 1982 was like as any other song released in that year
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