Vol III, Issue 8 – These eyes (15 Apr 2018)

For the love of rock

Vol III, Issue 8 – April love (15 Apr 2018)

Name of song– These eyes

Band- The Guess Who

Album- Wheatfield Soul

Writers– Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings

Release year– 1969

Peak chart positions– US Billboard Hot 100- 6

US Cash Box Top 100 – 4

Candian Top Singles – 7

American Singles Charts-100

Similar Artists- Bachman Turner Overdrive, April Wine, Steppenwolf, Foghat

These eyes

Reviewers- Bikash Shrestha/Nirab Kayastha

The Guess Who is one of the rare classic rock bands to have emerged out of Canada and gained worldwide attention during the late sixties and early seventies. They have had several hit numbers like “Shakin’ all over,” “American woman,” “These eyes,” etc to name a few. Formed in Winnipeg, Canada in 1965 by singer/guitarist Chad Allan as “Allan and the Silvertones”, the band have a unique story how they became “The Guess Who.” After formation, they had changed the original name to “Chad Allan and the Reflections”, and then to “Chad Allan and the Expressions.” In 1965, they had a hit with cover version of “Johnny Kid & the Pirates” hit “Shakin’ all over.” This song was also covered by “The You Know Who Group” earlier and hence “Chad Allan and the Expressions”’ record label credited the song to “Guess Who” in an attempt to build the mystique around the single. The song hit the charts and when the record label disclosed them as “Chad Allan and the Expressions,” the disc jockeys continued to call them “Guess Who” subsequently forcing the band to adapt to the new name “The Guess Who.”

“These eyes” is one of The Guess Who’s most successful numbers from their fifth album “Wheatfield Soul” produced in 1969. It was originally released as a single in Canada where the success of the song gave them a deal with RCA records and subsequently released in USA in the album “Wheatfield Soul.” The song was a top 10 single in Canada and US and reached 100 in Australia.

The song is a sad tragic ballad describing the long lost love. Written by Randy Bachman and Burton Cummings, the song has atypical pattern of a mellow rock song. The song starts with Cumming’s keyboard riff which is very catchy and forms the backbone of the song. Soon, Bachman’s guitar joins in along with Jim Kale’s bass and Garry Peterson’s drums. The song is enhanced by Cumming’s pensive voice and amazing delivery. Uniquely, the song is very smooth with no guitar solo and is relatively a short one. The simple poem describing the longing for the lost love has been master crafted into a slow rock ballad. The main chorus forms the most striking part of the song and it repeatedly goes on and on till it slowly fades away at the end.

Although The Guess Who have had their shares of several hits, with perhaps “American woman” being the most noted one, we can’t ignore other several amazing rock numbers. “These eyes” is their unique rock ballad which forces any rock fan to listen to it with open ears, closed eyes, melancholy heart and spiritual soul and once it gets into you, your eyes shall always search for these eyes.

Happy listening!!

Resources– Wikipedia.org, Allmusic.com

Video link- https://youtu.be/efsJfgxdBKI

These eyes

These eyes cry every night for you

These arms long to hold you again

The hurtin’s on me, yeah

But I will never be free, no, my baby, no, no

You gave a promise to me, yeah

And you broke it, you broke it, oh, no

These eyes watched you bring my world to an end

This heart could not accept and pretend

The hurtin’s on me, yeah

But I will never be free, no, no, no

You took the vow with me, yeah

And you spoke it, you spoke it, babe

These eyes are cryin’