it was released on 13 december 1977 as the second single from the "saturday night fever" soundtrack. it is one of their signature songs. in 2004, "stayin' alive" was placed at number 189 on the list of rolling stone's 500 greatest songs of all time. in 2004, it ranked no. 9 on afi's 100 years...100 songs survey of top tunes in american cinema. in a uk television poll on itv in december 2011 it was voted fifth in "the nation's favourite bee gees song".