"In Your Eyes" is a song by the English rock musician Peter Gabriel from his fifth solo studio album So (1986). It features Youssou N'Dour singing a part at the end of the song translated into his native Wolof. Gabriel's lyrics were inspired by an African tradition of ambiguity in song between romantic love and love of God.[1]
"In Your Eyes" was not released as a single in the UK but was the second single from So in the US, achieving strong radio airplay and regular MTV rotation. It reached number 1 on the US BillboardMainstream Rock Tracks on 13 September 1986 and peaked at number 26 on the BillboardHot 100 in November.[2] Gabriel released two extended versions of the song as a 12" vinyl single in the US. The first ran 6:15 and was the single version. The second, "Special" mix, ran 7:14 and was the B-side. In Australia, "In Your Eyes" peaked at number 97 in November 1986.[3]
The song was featured in the 1989 film Say Anything... starring John Cusack and Ione Skye.[4] It closed Gabriel's setlists during the Secret World Tour and is the final track on the 1994 Secret World Live album, where it is over 11 minutes long and includes the extra lyrics from the Special Mix and solos by the other singers and players. It was included on the US version of his 2003 compilation Hit, but not the European or Japanese versions.
In 2005, the song gave Gabriel his first gold single, certified in the US by the RIAA.[5]
Background
The origins of "In Your Eyes" derived from a song titled "Sagrada", which Gabriel developed for the So album. "Sagrada" was inspired by a trip to a cathedral in Barcelona, Spain; Gabriel based the lyrics on the Sagrada Família in Barcelona and the construction of the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California. He performed "Sagrada" live on a few occasions but left the composition unfinished.[6][7] Gabriel scrapped "Sagrada" from the So album early in development, with the vocal melody and chord changes becoming the basis of "In Your Eyes".[6] "In Your Eyes" was restructured on several occasions and required six reels of tape to piece together.[8]
When determining the track order for So, Gabriel wanted "In Your Eyes" to be the final track, but its prominent bassline meant it had to be placed earlier on the vinyl edition where the phonograph stylus had more room to vibrate. This restriction was no longer an issue for later CD releases, allowing the track to be placed as originally intended.[9] Gabriel refused to play "In Your Eyes" for any record company executives until he made the song more experimental.[8]
"In Your Eyes" first received airplay on album oriented rock radio stations, with Radio & Records reporting "In Your Eyes" as the fifth most added song to stations in that format for the week dated 23 May 1986.[10] The following week, it debuted in the top 60 AOR Tracks chart along with Gabriel's "Red Rain".[11] For the publication dated 29 August 1986, "In Your Eyes" was included on the playlists of 150 reporting AOR stations, making it the number one song in that format. That same week, the song also received 41 adds on contemporary hit radio stations, with a total of 43 percent of radio stations in that format playing the song.[12] In early September, "In Your Eyes" reached the number one position on Billboard'sAlbum Rock chart.[13] Around the same time, "In Your Eyes" began to receive further airplay on contemporary hit radio stations, debuting at number 40 of the Radio & Records airplay chart with 62 percent of those respective stations playing the song.[14] In the middle of October, the song reached number 19 on the Radio & Records Contemporary Hit Radio Airplay chart and number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100.[15][16]
Recording
The song incorporates vocals from Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour.[17] Gabriel invited N'Dour to his Ashcombe House home for lunch and played him a demo of "In Your Eyes" with the intention of having N'Dour record some vocals in English. N'Dour translated certain lines of the song into his native Wolof language and improvised his parts. Jenny Cathcart, a BBC researcher who acted as N'Dour's interpreter, recalled that "everybody was incredibly uplifted that afternoon. Youssou didn't even know he was going to do this; it was as if it was meant to be".[18]Jerry Marotta, one of the two drummers who played on "In Your Eyes", recalled that N'Dour was several hours late for the recording session and recorded his vocal take in thirty minutes.[8]
Despite not being credited with the instrument in the album's liner notes,[19]Daniel Lanois said in a 2023 interview with Rick Beato that he played an acoustic twelve-string guitar on the song's chorus. Lanois was not impressed with the quality of the guitar and believed that it was "not a very nice instrument". He further stated that the guitar part provided "a support role that a drum might play" and that "the support was such that it was high frequency, harmonic, high-speed component underneath a relatively low slow phrasing from the vocal."[20] The arpeggiated guitar part during the chorus was a composite of two different tracks that were layered over chordal accompaniment from a piano and synthesiser. David Rhodes, who played the song's electric guitars, noted his preference for having "a lack of definition" between the synthesizers and guitars.[21]
Manu Katché was brought into the recording studio to play drums on "In Your Eyes", which was one of the first songs he worked on with Gabriel along with "Don't Give Up". Both Katché and Marotta played drums on the song, with Katché also overdubbing a talking drum and additional percussion.[22] Some of the drums were reinforced by a surdo sample, which was aligned with some of the kick drum hits.[8] Katché recalled that he struggled to find a proper approach to the song, so Gabriel loosened him with what Katché described as an African dance that involved moving his arms up and down and bending his legs.
He was awkward, because he couldn't really dance. But if Peter, who didn't know me very well—because it was only the third or fourth day in the studio—tried to help me like that, then there was a message there. With that dance, that was [what] he wanted me to feel.[23]
Critical reception
Cash Box called it a "sweet and tuneful ballad" and praised Gabriel's "plaintive voice and sensational spacious production work."[24]Billboard called it a "dreamily textured mood piece."[25]Rolling Stone thought that "In Your Eyes" was "perhaps the closest thing to a conventional love ballad Gabriel has ever recorded."[26]
Writing for AllMusic, Stewart Mason called "In Your Eyes" the "finest pure love song Gabriel had ever written and one of his best songs."[27]MusicHound has described the song as being flavoured by worldbeat influences.[28]Far Out Magazine said "just like every other mid-1980s album, it [So] needed a big ballad at its centre in order to sell big. Luckily, Gabriel had just the thing with 'In Your Eyes'", and that the song "was the most nakedly emotional song that Gabriel had ever produced up to that point. The simplicity of the song's sentiment never gets compromised, with Gabriel filtering in poetic interpretations of love and devotion."[29]
Say Anything...
The song was used twice in the 1989 film Say Anything..., as well as its trailer. A famous scene from the film occurs when broken-hearted Lloyd Dobler (John Cusack) serenades his ex-girlfriend, Diane Court (Ione Skye), outside her bedroom window by holding a boombox up above his head and playing the song for her. Repopularized by its usage in the film, the song reentered the Billboard Hot 100, reaching number 41. This release was shorter, with a length of 4:53.[2]
Crowe says that Rosanna Arquette, who is believed to be the inspiration for the song, encouraged Peter Gabriel to consider allowing the film to use the song.[30] Gabriel asked to see Crowe's film and Crowe asked the production company to send Gabriel a rough cut. Gabriel rejected the use of his song, telling Crowe that he was uneasy about the overdose of the main character at the end; the studio had erroneously sent Gabriel the film Wired instead. He later approved the use of "In Your Eyes" upon seeing Say Anything....[31]
In a September 2012 interview with Rolling Stone, discussing the 25th anniversary of So, Gabriel commented on the cultural impact of the scene, "It definitely gave [the song] a second life, because now it's so often parodied in comedy shows and it is one of the modern day Romeo and Juliet balcony clichés. I've talked to John Cusack about that. We're sort of trapped together in a minuscule moment of contemporary culture."[32] In October 2012, as Gabriel played the first few bars of the song during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl, Cusack walked onto the stage, handed him a boombox and took a bow, before quickly walking off again. Say Anything... director Cameron Crowe was also present at the concert and later tweeted "Peter Gabriel and John Cusack on stage together at the Hollywood Bowl tonight. Won't forget that... ever."[33]
On the This Way Up Tour tour (1986–1987), it was performed with an extended vocal duet with Youssou N'Dour, mainly during his North American concerts.[35][36]
On 10 April 2014, Gabriel performed the song with an extended vocal duet with N'Dour as Gabriel was being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The event, which took place at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, was filmed and was later televised in late May 2014 on the HBO cable channel.[citation needed]
1 2 Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrateded.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p.120. ISBN0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
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