The Y! Music Playlist Blog

Songs About Tigers

By | The Y! Music Playlist Blog – Tue, Nov 17, 2009 1:53 PM EST

Although the tiger is only native to Asia it's an animal with a fearsome reputation throughout the world. Its notorious prominence as a man-eater, along with the greed of the poacher, has greatly reduced the world's wild tiger population, which is estimated somewhere around just 3,500 animals. In a recent Animal Planet poll the tiger was voted by viewers as the world's favorite animal, even beating out the beloved dog, who came in second place. For the songwriter the image of the tiger can be used to great effect. After all, the orange and black striped cat has thousands of years of folklore contributing to its reputation. A good lyricist can use this image to portray strength, fierceness, sexual prowess, wildness, danger, or in the case of a "paper tiger", powerlessness. For this playlist I have selected a group of songs that are a good representation of how the tiger has been used in popular music.

What's your favorite tiger song?

Songs About Tigers 

   1. Eye Of The Tiger - Survivor
 
   2. The Tigers Have Spoken - Neko Case 

   3. When The Tigers Broke Free - Pink Floyd 

   4. Paper Tiger - Spoon 

   5. Tiger Mountain Peasant Song - Fleet Foxes
 
   6. Neon Tiger - The Killers 

   7. Paper Tiger - Beck 

   8. Tiger Tom Dixon's Blues - Rod Picott 

   9. Tiger Man - Elvis Presley 

   10. I've Got A Tiger By The Tail - Buck Owens
 
   11. Ride The Tiger - Jefferson Starship
 
   12. Tiger Tiger - Duran Duran 

   13. Tiger Rag - Bix Beiderbecke 

   14. Fear Da Tiger - Bootsy Collins 

   15. Taming The Tiger - Joni Mitchell 

   16. Plain Tiger - Cocteau Twins 

   17. Taking Tiger Mountain - Brian Eno 

   18. Paper Tigers - Caesars
 
   19. Tigers in the Temple - Old Time Relijun 

   20. Tigers In Our Hearts  The Big Sleep

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