All right let's be realistic here. Rocky IV is an insanely cheesy film. Don't get me wrong, I love it. Sylvester Stallone was at his peak stardom at this point in 1987. Rocky IV would prove to be his biggest hit of his entire career. Plus the fight between him and Dolph Lundgren is just insane in every way. Heck, they even had the guts to kill off Apollo Creed!
But this is such an 80's film. Not just in the Cold War metaphors that Stallone puts all over the film but also in the music. The 80's were know for their cheese and John Cafferty's song "Hearts on Fire" might have been the cheesiest song on the soundtrack.
Yet the song works perfectly because of the part where Stallone placed it in the film: The Training Montage.
It is not a Rocky film without a training montage. While "Hearts" is no "Gonna Fly Now," it is able to get the job done. The music swells and swells and we see Rocky Balboa and his Russian opponent Ivan Drago train for their boxing bouts. The song ends on the image of Rocky climbing a mountain. A very kick ass image in every way possible.
"Hearts on Fire" is also such a perfect 80's song because it fit with the fitness craze that hit the 80's hard. Songs like this and Olivia Newton John's "Physical." fit right in with the era.
Plus you can't beat the lyrics: Hearts on fire / strong desire / rages deep within / hearts on fire / fever's rising / high the moment of truth draws near.
Come on, that is about as close to poetry as it got in the 80's! If those lyrics and the training video above don't inspire you to go kick commie butt, then nothing will!
Kim Applegate picked this song and she picked it well!
A note on the blog. Last week, we had some issues on the comments section. People tried to post comments but to no avail. That has now been fixed. Please feel free to post comments and suggestions for future songs to be commented here on the blog.
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