In Your Eyes (Peter Gabriel song)

"In Your Eyes" is a song by 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.

"In Your Eyes" was not released as a single in the UK but released as the second single from So in the US, achieving strong radio airplay and regular MTV rotation. It reached number 1 on the US Billboard Mainstream Rock Tracks on 13 September 1986 and peaked at number 26 on the Billboard Hot 100 in November. 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.

The track was featured in the teen drama film Say Anything... (1989) starring John Cusack and Ione Skye. The song was the finale of the Secret World Tour and 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, in addition to 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.

Background

Inspired by a trip to a cathedral in Barcelona, Spain, Gabriel wrote lyrics for another So era song, "Sagrada". Gabriel derived the lyrics from two sources: the Sagrada Família in Barcelona and the construction of the Winchester Mystery House, but he never finished the composition despite performing it live on a few occasions. "Sagrada" was scrapped early on, although some elements, including the vocal melody and chord changes, were transferred over to "In Your Eyes". The song was restructured on several occasions and required six reels of tape to piece together.

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, and the track was placed at the end of the album. Gabriel refused to play "In Your Eyes" for any of the record company executives until the song was made more experimental.

Recording

The song incorporates vocals from Senegalese singer Youssou N'Dour. Gabriel invited N'Dour to his Ashcombe House for lunch and played him a demo of "In Your Eyes" with the intention of having N'Dour record some vocals in English. Instead, N'Dour translated certain lines of the song into his native Wolof language and improvised his parts on the spot, prompting Gabriel to join in. 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". Jerry Marotta, who was 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.

Despite not being credited with the instrument in the album's liner notes, Daniel Lanois stated 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. But in this case, the support was such that it was high frequency, harmonic, high-speed component underneath a relatively low slow phrasing from the vocal." The arpeggiating 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.

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 Katche and Marotta played drums on the song, with the former also overdubbing a talking drum and additional percussion. Some of the drums were reinforced by a surdo sample, which was aligned with some of the kick drum hits. Katché recalled that he struggled to find a proper approach to the song, so Gabriel loosened him up by performing an African dance.

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 he wanted me to feel.

Critical reception

Cash Box called it a "sweet and tuneful ballad" and praised Gabriel's "plaintive voice and sensational spacious production work." Billboard called it a "dreamily textured mood piece." Rolling Stone thought that "In Your Eyes" was "perhaps the closest thing to a conventional love ballad Gabriel has ever recorded."

Writing for AllMusic, Stewart Mason called "In Your Eyes" the "finest pure love song Gabriel had ever written and one of his best songs." MusicHound has described the song as being flavoured by worldbeat influences.Far Out Magazine said "just like every other mid-1980s album, it 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."

Say Anything...

The song was used twice in the 1989 US Cameron Crowe film Say Anything..., as well as its trailer. A famous scene from the film occurs when broken-hearted Lloyd Dobler serenades his ex-girlfriend, Diane Court, 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.

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. 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....

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 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." 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. 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."

Personnel

Manu Katché – drums, talking drum, percussion
Jerry Marotta – additional drums
Larry Klein – bass
Tony Levin – bass
Daniel Lanois – 12-string guitar
David Rhodes – guitars, backing vocals
Peter Gabriel – lead and backing vocals, CMI, piano, synthesizer
Richard Tee – piano
Youssou N'Dour – guest vocals
Michael Been – backing vocals
Jim Kerr – backing vocals
Ronnie Bright – bass vocals
Kevin Killen – mixer

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (1986–1987)	Peak position
Australia (Kent Music Report)	97
Canada Top Singles (RPM)	29
New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)	50
US Billboard Hot 100	26
US Mainstream Rock (Billboard)	1

Performances

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.

In 1993, Gabriel performed the song on Saturday Night Live, during its 18th season.

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.

References

John McCullough (20 February 2012). "Peter Gabriel & Africa". Archived from the original on 15 January 2019. Retrieved 30 April 2017.
^ Dean, Maury (2003). Rock N' Roll Gold Rush. Algora. p. 222. ISBN 0-87586-207-1.
^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 120. ISBN 0-646-11917-6. N.B. The Kent Report chart was licensed by ARIA between mid-1983 and 19 June 1988.
"John Cusack relives 'Say Anything' boombox moment with Peter Gabriel". NBC. 9 October 2012. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
Peter Gabriel – "In Your Eyes" Archived 26 June 2007 at the Wayback Machine. RIAA. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Single, then click SEARCH
^ Bowman, Durrell (2 September 2016). Experiencing Peter Gabriel: A Listener's Companion. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. pp. 136–138. ISBN 978-1-44225-199-1.
So (CD liner notes). Peter Gabriel. United Kingdom: Real World. 2012. PGCD 5.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
^ Hein, Ethan (9 July 2014). "Killen and Marotta". The Ethan Hein Blog. Retrieved 2 June 2024.
Google; Gabriel, Peter (22 October 2012). Peter Gabriel: "Back to Front", Talks at Google (Interview). Archived from the original on 22 December 2021. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
Pareles, Jon (15 June 1986). "Peter Gabriel Sings of Lost Ego". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
Scarfe, Graeme (2021). Peter Gabriel: Every Album, Every Song. United Kingdom: SonicBond. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-78952-138-2.
Peter Gabriel (So) (booklet). Peter Gabriel. Wiltshire: Real World Records. 2010.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
Laing, Rob (18 May 2023). "Daniel Lanois talks producing and his memories of making So with Peter Gabriel: "If you don't get to a soulful place making a record, don't put it out"". MusicRadar. Retrieved 10 December 2023.
"David Rhodes Archive - Guitar Player Magazine - September 1987". David Rhodes Archive. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
"Peter Gabriel: "In Your Eyes"". Drummer Cafe. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
Stemkovsky, Ilya (December 2019). "Manu Katché: The drummer on many a classic rock album stays vital by avoiding the obvious, ignoring the plaudits, and always being himself" (PDF). Modern Drummer. p. 60.
"Single Releases" (PDF). Cash Box. 30 August 1986. p. 9. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
"Reviews". Billboard. 30 August 1986. p. 83. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
Holmes, Tim (14 August 1986). "So". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 15 August 2014. Retrieved 30 July 2024.
Mason, Stewart. "In Your Eyes - Peter Gabriel". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
MusicHound Rock: The Essential Album Guide. Visible Ink Press. 1996. ISBN 9780787610371. Retrieved 4 October 2024.
"Listen to Peter Gabriel's isolated vocal on 'In Your Eyes'". FarOutMagazine.co.uk. 3 December 2022.
Adams, Jason (3 November 2009). "'Say Anything' turns 20: Cameron Crowe's crazy story behind 'In Your Eyes' and Lloyd Dobler's boom box". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 5 July 2016.
"Why the Boombox Scene in Say Anything Almost Didn't Happen". Mental Floss. 6 April 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
Q&A: Peter Gabriel Reflects On His Landmark 1986 Album So Archived 9 September 2012 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 4 September 2012
Gawker.com: Peter Gabriel's Performance of In Your Eyes Interrupted By John Cusack Holding A Boombox Archived 18 February 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 8 October 2012
"Peter Gabriel – In Your Eyes". Top 40 Singles.
"Peter Gabriel Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
"Peter Gabriel Chart History (Mainstream Rock)". Billboard. Retrieved 2 April 2024.
Soundtrack of my life: Youssou N'Dour The Guardian. Retrieved 24 November 2011
"Peter Gabriel On Tour (5): This Way Up Tour 1986–87: Big Time (Success)". genesis-news.com. Retrieved 25 October 2013.
SNL Archives | Episode. Archived 26 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 27 August 2007.

External links

"In Your Eyes" at Discogs (list of releases)

v t e Peter Gabriel
Studio albums	Peter Gabriel (Car) Peter Gabriel (Scratch) Peter Gabriel (Melt) Peter Gabriel (Security) So Us Up Scratch My Back New Blood I/O
Live albums	Plays Live Plays Live Highlights Secret World Live Live Blood Back to Front: Live in London Growing Up Live
Singles	"Solsbury Hill" "Modern Love" "D.I.Y." "Games Without Frontiers" "No Self Control" "Biko" "I Don't Remember" "Shock the Monkey" "I Have the Touch" "Wallflower" "Sledgehammer" "In Your Eyes" "Don't Give Up" "Big Time" "Red Rain" "Shaking the Tree" "Digging in the Dirt" "Steam" "Blood of Eden" "Kiss That Frog" "While the Earth Sleeps" "When You're Falling" "The Barry Williams Show" "More Than This" "Growing Up "Burn You Up, Burn You Down" "Darkness" "Down to Earth" "Panopticom" "The Court" "Playing for Time" "I/O" "Four Kinds of Horses" "Road to Joy" "So Much" "Olive Tree" "Love Can Heal" "This Is Home" "And Still" "Live and Let Live"
Songs	"Here Comes the Flood" "On the Air" "Intruder" "Family Snapshot" "The Rhythm of the Heat" "San Jacinto" "That Voice Again" "Mercy Street" "We Do What We're Told (Milgram's 37)" "This is the Picture (Excellent Birds)" "Come Talk to Me" "Secret World" "Sky Blue"
Soundtracks	Birdy Passion OVO Long Walk Home
Compilations	Shaking the Tree: Sixteen Golden Greats Revisited Hit Rated PG Flotsam and Jetsam
Concert tours	Secret World Tour Back to Front Tour i/o The Tour
Films	Secret World Live Growing Up: Live Still Growing Up: Live & Unwrapped
Video games	Xplora1: Peter Gabriel's Secret World Eve Myst IV: Revelation
Other	Discography Genesis WOMAD Passion – Sources The Story of OVO Millennium Dome Show Play: The Videos Big Blue Ball And I'll Scratch Yours Real World Records Real World Studios Solid State Logic (SSL)
Peter Gabriel discography

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