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You are here: Home / Funny / 10 Rejected “Eye of the Tiger” Alternate Lyrics…
October 1, 2012 By 25 Comments

10 Rejected “Eye of the Tiger” Alternate Lyrics…

This past football weekend, I heard no fewer than a dozen different sports commentators describe various athletes as having the “eye of the tiger” as a positive tribute to a particularly gritty or unrelenting athletic performance.

The phrase is a metaphorical reference to the prowling carnivore’s unrelenting hunger to survive – and it was introduced to the American sports lexicon in 1982 when Eye of the Tiger was the theme song for Rocky III, written and performed by the band Survivor.

According to Wikipedia, Sylvester Stallone commissioned the song for the movie when he was unable to license Another One Bites the Dust from the band Queen.

To demonstrate how pervasive this phrase has penetrated the American psyche, when you start to type the generic word “eye” into Google, the first auto-fill search option that Google recommends is Eye of the Tiger.

Regardless, few people know that Survivor front man Jimi Jamison had several other alternate animal-body-part phrases that he ultimately rejected. Consider the following:

  1. Throat of the Goat
  2. Bowel of the Fowl
  3. Earwax of the Wombat
  4. Epiglottis of the Hippopotamus
  5. Derriere of the Bear
  6. Dander of the Panther
  7. Gizzard of the Lizard
  8. Jowl of the Owl
  9. Emphysema of the Hyena
  10. Back fat of the Musk Rat

Again, these were some of the alternate phrase ideas for Eye of the Tiger that the band rejected (or that might possibly be a complete fabrication on my part – I’m not really sure).

Below is the campy video for the anthemic ballad. You might want to try inserting a few of the various phrases during the chorus to see if Jamison chose wisely.

Question: Any other animal-body-part combinations the band should have considered?

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  • http://INeedHelpWithWordPress.com Paul B. Taubman, Ii

    For some reason, the “Fleece of the Geese” does not seem to motivate me much! Good thing they stuck with the Eye of the Tiger!

    As a Pep Band member, I played Eye of the Tiger for years at RIT – our mascot? The Tiger!

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Love the RIT reference, now I’m really feeling nostalgic. On a side note -pep band? What instrument if you don’t mind me asking?

  • http://www.kellycombs.com/ Kelly Combs

    “The speed-a of the Cheetah.” :-) Of course you realize “eye of the tiger” doesn’t rhyme, so you are making it harder than it need be. However, you mention 80s music, and I am there. I used to post “Musical Mondays” at my blog, where I would take the lyrics of a 70s or 80s pop song and turn it into a devotional. Because I can.

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Hah! Love your addition – it made me think of “dander of the panther” ;-)

      Now I’ve got to go nose around your site and find your devotional for Def Leppard’s “Rock of Ages” ;-)

    • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

      Thanks, Kelly, that may forever be in my head now! :)

      • http://www.kellycombs.com/ Kelly Combs

        Thank you Skip. I just stalked checked out your website. Very nice! I am from Virginia, so am also a fan of Old Bay. And I love Quincy almost as much as 80s music. Although I have moved on to House and CSI. But I’ll never leave the 80s music. Or the hair.

        Nice to meet you.

  • WorkingNaked

    After reading the list, eye of the tiger makes the most sense. The paw of the dog just doesn’t have enough bite. :) It’s probably better that I listened to 80′s music instead of writing it!

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Thanks Lisa – us children of the 80s music decade have to stick together ;-)

  • http://randomlychad.com Chad Jones

    Great list, Tor!

    I’ll make one addition to the discussion:

    The lesser known, but perhaps more greatly loved Napoleon Bonaparte-approved version:

    Eye of the Liger

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Fantastic addition Chad!

  • http://twitter.com/amabaie David Leonhardt

    I really thought this was a joke post, especially with some of the alternatives selected. In my mind, eye of the tiger was a long-standing expression. I actually looked it up after reading this post, to try to find an earlier original of the phrase, and was surprised to discover that this post is serious and in earnest.

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      David, I appreciate the comment! For the sake of clarity – your initial instincts were spot (of the leopard) on target! My purpose for this post was completely tongue-in-cheek, and any satirical similarity to real events were absolutely intended and contrived as such ;-)

  • shawn

    Thanks for bringing me back to the 80′s! And I never considered another catch phrase I mean if you have the eye of the tiger you just don’t need anything else!

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      I guess you’re right, I mean “the clubfoot of the octopus” doesn’t make much sense….

  • http://www.facebook.com/PeggyLeeHanson PeggyLee Hanson

    Ham of the lamb doesn’t really cut it either ;-)

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Although you are making me hungry for some bacon-wrapped mutton….

  • http://www.skipprichard.com/ Skip Prichard

    Tor, not sure I can add an animal body part, but I can say this: that
    song still is a motivator. I’m running stairs already…punching an
    imaginary bag…at this rate, I can skip the gym today…

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Indeed! The problem with this kind of blog post is that I can’t get the song out of my mind – however, it is a bit funnier when I sing it with some of the commenters suggestions ;-)

  • http://www.ramblingbarba.com Ken Hagerman

    The snood of the Turkey doesn’t play well either. Horn of the Rhino has potential but still needs that something special. Honestly the Leg of the Leghorn is just redundant.

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Good points Ken. Rhino horn is close. How about “Wroth of the Sloth”? It would work great (grammatical tensing aside) if the sloth wasn’t so….well, slothful and all…

      • http://www.ramblingbarba.com Ken Hagerman

        Get out of my head. I was trying for a Sloth comment and had to bail for a work related distraction. I know, I need to prioritize.

  • Rob Swanson

    The Roller Hair of the Polar Bear? It was the 80′s after all.

    That video always killed me. I love the song, but the sheer opportunity afforded the video, even if it was to film theirs better, was awesome. Instead, they don’t walk in time with the music, they’re stiff, unlike the tiger, and the poor boys simply aren’t tough looking, beret or not, Ah well, it’s always better in my memory.

    • http://www.thedailyretort.com/ TorConstantino

      Genius! Regrettably, I have to agree with the “lack of toughness” factor – not like I’m Brock Lesnar – but I’m pretty sure my 8-year old daughter could kick the snot out of the skinny-tied bassist….