#86 - The Search Is Over

Artist: Survivor

Album: Vital Signs
Video: From YouTube.

Is Survivor the greatest band of all-time?  Growing up in the 80’s, I had no doubt of that.  Survivor’s music has always struck a chord with me on a visceral level.

Of course, the band is most famous for their biggest hit “Eye of the Tiger”, the theme from Rocky III.  That was the first song that made me want to have entrance music.  It’s still my go-to song for anything requiring adrenaline or inspiration.

I was about 12 or 13 when HBO started playing Rocky III every day for a while, and I became a Rocky nut.  And Survivor is the band most closely associated with the Rocky series.  I must have watched Rocky III at least 50 times as a kid.  If my life depended on it, I believe I could recite every single line of dialogue.  I know I could at the time.  When Rocky V was released, I watched it opening night at Mann’s (now Grauman’s) Chinese Theatre in Hollywood at midnight…..after watching a special screening of the first four movies consecutively.

So when Survivor released “Vital Signs” in 1984, you can imagine that I was giddy.  The album is a personal favorite.  Nine tracks, not a slacker in the bunch.  “High On You” is an amazing song.  But basically, there is every other song on this album, and then there is “The Search Is Over”.

I can say, completely without bias, that this is one of the greatest ballads of all time.  It’s a moving tale of a man’s discovery that his true love was right under his nose, only he didn’t know it.  Beautiful keyboards.  Jimi Jamison’s golden throat.  Awesome lyrics, especially the bridge.  And the video fits the song perfectly….lots of soul searching walks through the streets at night, hanging out with the boys in the band playing pool, and finally Jamison returns to his beloved.

So I guess what I’m trying to say about “The Search Is Over” is, I liked it.

And now, this blog post is over.  “Yo, Adrian!  I did it!”