Hey there. My second post in the musical series. I’m very excited about this one as it’s one of my all-time favourites. It’s called “Eye of the Tiger”. This was the theme song to the movie Rocky III, which was one of the biggest hits of 1982. Most of us who were born in the 70’s or earlier will remember Sylvester Stallone who plays Rocky Balboa, a world boxing champion who is resting on his laurels and enjoying his fame and riches. After being challenged by his contender Clubber Lang, Rocky decides to take to the ring only to lose the fight badly. Going into depression and contemplating retirement, Rocky is then persuaded by Apollo Creed to have a rematch with Lang. Presenting Rocky Balboa and the Eye of the Tiger!
Risin’ up, back on the street
Did my time, took my chances
Went the distance
Now I’m back on my feet
Just a man and his will to survive
Sometimes when life knocks you down, the easiest thing to do is to give up and accept life and our circumstances. The intro to the song beautifully summarises how we need to rise up and get back on the street and take our chances with life. Life is a journey where one needs to keep fighting to survive.
So many times, it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory
Don’t lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must fight just to keep them alive
Rocky let success go to his head, took the easy way out, and spent his time reveling in glory and accepting the status quo rather than training fiercely and passionately. He bought what people said about his greatness. And while Rocky was posing with celebrities and kissing babies, Clubber—hungry, lean and mean—was training hard with the aim of knocking Rocky off his pedestal.
Very often in life we become so complacent in life and rest on our laurels that we forget what got us there in the first place. As Stephen Covey put it we need to “Sharpen the Saw”. It means we need to continuously invest our time and energy in developing and growing ourselves. While its good to be proud of what you have achieved in life, its necessary that one does not lose sight of his dreams and keep fighting to keep them alive and work towards realising each dream.
It’s the eye of the tiger
It’s the thrill of the fight
Risin’ up to the challenge
Of our rival
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night
And he’s watching us all with the
Eye of the tiger
In one of the scenes Apollo Creed says the following to Rocky “You lost the fight for all the wrong reasons. You lost your edge!. When we fought you had the eye of the tiger. The Edge!. Now you have to get it back and the way to get it back is to go back to the beginning”
Most of us have chosen to live our lives as mere spectators in a football match. We enjoy the thrill and excitement watching the 22 people on the ground sweat it out and sometimes seriously injuring themselves. Very few actually decide to be a part of the game. In our lives we need to pick ourselves up and rise up to face the challenges in life. Each one of us has something special and unique within us. Each one of us has that Edge!. We just need to look further and deeper and we will find it. I’m looking. Are you?
Face to face, out in the heat
Hangin’ tough, stayin’ hungry
They stack the odds
Still we take to the street
For the kill with the skill to survive
These are probably the most powerful lines for me. It talks about how in life we need to live up to the challenges and take them head on. We need to fight against all odds, hanging tough and staying hungry to get our kill and survive. This actually reminds me of a dialogue from Rocky Balboa (2006) which actually summarises the essence of the lines above very well.
Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place, and I don’t care how tough you are, it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t about how hard you hit. It’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much you can take and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done! Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!
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Risin’ up straight to the top
Had the guts, got the glory
Went the distance
Now I’m not gonna stop
Just a man and his will to survive
The concluding lines urge us to keep moving ahead even after we have achieved our goals. With you guts, determination you go the distance and achieve your dream. Now is not the time to stop. Its the time to recharge and prepare for your next journey.
The entire Rocky series is on my favourite movies and always inspires me when I’m feeling low or down. Its a story about how a man can achieve his goals and dreams through sheer determination, gut, hard work and passion. Go Live your dreams. Don’t Give up!