Why now? Why the reinvention? And, most importantly, will it last? Well, you’ve got to read this book and then decide for yourself.
People often stop and ask me, “Jim, what’s your best song?” I’m sure they expect to hear me name one of my big hits, perhaps “Eye of the Tiger,” “Hold on Loosely,” “The Search Is Over” or “Vehicle.”
Instead I tell them, “I haven’t written it yet.” And I’m dead serious. It’s always day one for me—the first day of the rest of my life, and I intend to live to 100.
I’ve got too damn much to do, too many committed goals, too many songs to write, and too many emotions to express. I’ve got too much love to share, too many slushy martinis to sip, bone-in fillets to sink my teeth into, young rockers to mentor, too many vintage guitars to collect and memories to reflect upon. But most of all, I have the motivation to maybe even make a difference in your life.
Hopefully, I will touch you with a shared experience or perhaps mirror your own life in some way; maybe I will even shed some light on a problem you might be having. I have found that as I write, I become my own shrink—so I’m saving a bundle there.
At this very moment, sitting at the computer in my kitchen, I’m writing a song called “Delusional” for the group I founded, Pride of Lions, which features me and the amazing vocalist Toby Hitchcock. It’s a good one that concerns the sometimes careless medication of “hyperactive” kids when they become a nuisance to their parents and society. It’s my belief that except in extreme cases kids should be allowed to be kids, exhibiting all the characteristics that make them unique individuals.
The lyric brings that point home:
“He gets up early each morning rushes down to the field
By the power of will he’s a man made of steel
He says he’s gonna be a football star
yeah they all say the boy’s delusional
She sings into her hairbrush in front of the mirror
At the top of her lungs—her passion is clear
She says she wants to be like her idols on the screen
Ah they shake their heads—the girl’s delusional
Then they come up with initials
for not doing what he’s told
Giving her prescriptions—to fit into the mold”
Chorus:
“Let the boy dream—let him believe
Live and breathe—let him be delusional
Let the girl grow
Question all she’s been told
Wild and free
Let them be unusual—Delusional
These are the rule breakers—the rain makers—the game changers
These are the restless souls that shape their destiny
These are the earth shakers—the risk takers—the storm chasers
These are the crazy hearts taking hope to history
Now here’s to all with a vision beyond what is known
The ones who fight the whole world on raw courage alone
The ones who never listen when they taunt and they tease
One flash of their eyes—you can see what they see
It’s the curse and the cure of the dreamer’s disease
Do you know what it means to be—Delusional.”
Copyright 2012 Jim Peterik/Bicycle Music ASCAP
So here it is—with all its warts and beauty, holy water and spit—the world as I see it—“Through the Eye of the Tiger.”
—Jimbo
WHEN JIM PETERIK writes a song, he not only captures life’s extraordinary moments, he sanctifies them. By penning the lyrics of “Eye of the Tiger” and “The Destiny Stone” (from Pride of Lions’ 2007 release) he has made the distant dream attainable. Maybe we weren’t raised to be boxers or political strategists, but Jim assures us, through his empowering words, that we have the power to succeed.
His talent does not stand still. “Ghost Orchid” (from his first Lifeforce CD) is shrouded in sensitivity, yet holds up to the strongest feminist anthem. “The Search Is Over” was inspired by a news story (but was informed by his own life’s search), one that many might have read, but few would have synthesized.
Because the songwriter and the man are not two distinct entities, Jim’s life story is as genuine as the solid, brick bungalows constructed in his native Berwyn. He’s got roots, but he also has wings, which he has used to soar above some of pop culture’s most transformative, yet harrowing times. Many of his contemporaries died—sadly, senselessly—before the age of thirty. Maybe that’s why he doesn’t take for granted one single day.
But survival, of course, isn’t enough. Jim, who once skated dangerously close to a spirit-crushing depression, had to find the strength to spring back. Songwriting, his close-knit friends, and his high school sweetheart, Karen (who eventually became his wife), meant the world to Jim back in Berwyn, but these loved ones mean even more today.
Because of their shared history, they understand his words and, moreover, his need for introspection. Soul-searching requires time. To Jim Peterik, silence seems to brilliantly simmer; perhaps it opens the gates to wondrous images and thoughts or to those lyrics that motivate and move us. Jim Peterik uses words and space to make the mundane fierce, strong, and gorgeous.
Jim and I met for the first time at a songwriting workshop in the late ’80s, although I really doubt Jim remembers me; one of many emerging artists in a crowded room, I was buried behind a notebook. (Author’s note: I do distinctly remember this inquisitive and bright girl!) I was struck by Jim’s knowledge of the music business, but I also recall how the successful, Grammy-winning songwriter stayed around to field additional questions well past the targeted ending time.
What struck me, too, was how warm and personable Jim was, even after what must have been an exhausting afternoon. “Approachable” is how many of his fans would describe him. Jim sees himself as a people person. Even the shortest dialogue with a fan or a server at a local diner seems to excite him; his dad, Jim Peterik Sr., also a working musician, taught, by example, that no one trumps another—we’re in this life together. I believe that Jim feels we have to embrace our commonalities.
I never forgot that personality. Years later, when I started writing for the popular British
