YOU ARE HERE: zharth.net / Zharth's Music Log / Week 102 (These Eyes)
(Originally finalized on October 11, 2024)
Preface: As I mentioned last week, songs about seeing are well-represented. I'm holding to my promise not to dedicate a whole week to it, but during my search I came across quite a few songs that mention eyes. And I thought it would make for a good splinter theme. A lot of these are love songs (or breakup songs, which is just the other side of the coin), so this week will be a little bit more mellow than usual - but I'm still excited, because I've got some good songs picked out for you. Let's have a look-see, shall we?
Monday: The Guess Who - These Eyes [Wheatfield Soul, 1969]
Comments: We'll start with the song that named this theme, which I've been singing in my head ever since we finished the last one. Featuring Randy Bachman (later of Bachman-Turner Overdrive), and not to be confused with The Who, I - like many people - got into this Canadian band on the success of their hit American Woman. For a rock band, some of their music could be described as "mushy", but if you put on their greatest hits, it creates a very romantic atmosphere.
Tuesday: The Who - Behind Blue Eyes [Who's Next, 1971]
Comments: Speaking of The Who, this is one of their most enduring hits, from their seminal album Who's Next (of which you should surely be acquainted by now, since its opening and closing tracks were featured on recent themes). It may be a cliché at this point, but I identified with this song strongly - and not just because I have blue eyes - back when I was an angsty teenager who felt isolated and misunderstood.
Wednesday: The Eagles - Lyin' Eyes [One Of These Nights, 1975]
Comments: With cross-genre appeal among pop, rock, and country listeners, this song from the hit album that preceded Hotel California won The Eagles their first Grammy award. Aside from the band's considerable talent, I think the success of this song hinges on a compelling central image (main writer Glenn Frey all but said that the song basically wrote itself) - delivered via a very catchy chorus. Just try and listen to this song without singing along. I dare ya.
Thursday: The Moody Blues - The Story In Your Eyes [Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, 1971]
Comments: I like The Moody Blues, but I don't listen to them as often as other bands; their music has a dreamy quality I have to be in the right mood for. I was turned on to this song by a girl I knew in college, whose dad was a bass guitarist. Everybody knows Nights In White Satin, but this may be the band's hardest rocking hit, thanks to an energetic guitar part courtesy of Justin Hayward.
Friday: The Velvet Underground - Pale Blue Eyes [The Velvet Underground, 1969]
Comments: In my survey, the most represented eye color in song titles was blue. Make of that what you will. Coming from Lou Reed - who wrote such eyebrow-raising tunes as Heroin and Venus In Furs - this song, featured on The Velvet Underground's self-titled album from 1969 (not to be confused with their debut, which was The Velvet Underground & Nico), is disarmingly sweet. But that's exactly why I like it.
Saturday: Neil Young - Tired Eyes [Tonight's The Night, 1975]
Comments: To his enduring credit, after the hit single Heart of Gold from his fourth album Harvest propelled Neil Young to superstardom in 1972, he swerved into the ditch, and released a trilogy of emotionally rich but decidedly uncommercial albums. Recorded in 1973, but delayed for a couple years, the climax of this period is Tonight's The Night, a funeral dirge for two friends and associates that Neil lost to drugs. The rough and strung out quality of this material reflects genuine grief, and is largely what makes it so effective.
Sunday: Fleetwood Mac - Closing My Eyes [Then Play On, 1969]
Comments: Representing the culmination of Fleetwood Mac's early developmental period (before major changes would occur), Then Play On showcases the band's instrumental cohesion, while addressing some heavy subjects that were on bandleader Peter Green's mind. Struggling to come to terms with his rapid rise to prominence in the British blues scene of the late '60s, and exacerbated by the use of LSD, Green would leave the band shortly after the release of this album and quickly succumb to debilitating mental illness, from which he would never fully recover.
Honorable Mention: Beth Hart - Damn Your Eyes [Black Coffee, 2018]
Comments: Once again, this is a theme with a multitude of options. But for the honorable mention, I wanted to highlight a recent song. This is Beth Hart, accompanied by Joe Bonamassa on guitar, singing an old Etta James number called Damn Your Eyes. What resonates with me is the idea of somebody being so attractive that it's painful, and you become a prisoner to your own desires. And on that note...