gonna fly now

Bill Conti took flight and captured the spirit of freedom with the triumphant theme from 'Rocky'. Conti wrote the inspirational instrumental theme for the training montage in the film and played it for Carol Conners and Ayn Robbins. Conners came up with lyrics while in the shower and called Conti right away to tell him. She and Robbins wrote lyrics for the entire song; but the final version of the song sung by DeEtta Little and Nelson Pigfordonly used only thirty words.


Speaking of the setting of the film and the sense of a struggle between good and evil, Conti says: "I remember having a discussion on a 'Rocky' movie, when Avildsen wanted to have music as heroic as a Symphony of Beethoven, and I said 'but we’re in the streets of Philadelphia!' I scored a point; I said 'I’ll keep that in mind, but I think we should acknowledge where we are.' So the composer, I think, usually will acknowledge his environment. Music, of course, is not immoral or moral. Even though Wagner was not played in Israel because they thought he was an anti-Semite and that the Nazi’s embraced Wagner’s music; they were of course making an emotional statement but Wagner’s music is not anti-Semitic, what it is is simply emotional. Now, can it go beyond emotion to take us to a higher place, some people think it can, some people think it cannot. But we will agree that it will tinker with your emotions, which are not to be trusted. If we are rational beings and we are driven by our emotions, then we are in trouble. Music only addresses our emotions, so music is not to be trusted in a moral/immoral sense, but if I’m supposed to scare you, it would be my job as the musician to scare you."


Sylvester Stallone admits: "It makes the hair on the back of my neck go up. I was there during the re-recording of that. The first time Bill had thirteen instruments or fourteen, and he maybe had twelve hours to do the whole score... there was no money, he had to do the whole score in one day. This time we had like one hundred pieces, and like me there with one hundred people it was just 'Whew!' Just blows your hair off... unbelievable. And I have to give him all the credit in the world. I think 'Rocky', probably... it may have worked, but I'm not sure, without his music, I'm not sure if it would've worked nearly. That contemporary 'Bum bum wha', you know that 70's, 'boom boom, boom boom boo boo'... I don't know."


After jumping from number twenty-one to number seven, 'Gonna Fly Now' rose steadily up the charts for six consecutive weeks from seven to six to five to four to three to two to number one. The single sold over a million copies and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Original Song. It is one of the most enduring musical scores of all time.


















Trying hard now
It's so hard now
Trying hard now

Getting strong now
Won't be long now
Getting strong now

Gonna fly now
Flying high now
Gonna fly, fly, fly










Maynard Ferguson did a version of the song that same year.









Rhythm Heritage also released a disco version in 1977.