Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel song)
"Bright Eyes" is a song written by Mike Batt, and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was used in the soundtrack of the 1978 film Watership Down and as such is considered the theme song of the film and the later television series adaptations. The track also appears on Garfunkel's fourth studio album, Fate for Breakfast from 1979. It was the biggest selling single of 1979 in the UK.
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[edit] Background
Written by Mike Batt for the film at the request of director Martin Rosen,[1] the song relates to the transition into death highlighted by Hazel's close shave when he is shot by a farmer, and then years later when Hazel (then Hazel-rah) finally departs his body and enters the world of spirit.
The song was immensely successful in the United Kingdom, staying at number one in the British charts for six weeks in 1979, selling over one million copies, becoming the biggest selling single of that year in the UK. However, it did poorly in the United States, failing to reach the Billboard Hot 100, mostly due to the fact that the US release of Fate for Breakfast did not feature the track. It was however featured on the US release of Garfunkel's 1981 album Scissors Cut.
[edit] Charts
[edit] Other versionsThe Shadows did an instrumental version in 1979 on the album String of Hits. The song was re-recorded in 1980 by Matthew Butler, a 6 year old who had featured in the UK Children's Television series Tiswas, that originally aired 1974-1982. This version was produced by Neil Innes and the single reached #121 in the UK Charts. The track also appeared on Tiswas Presents the Four Bucketeers album. Pop group Brotherhood of Man recorded the song for their 1980 cover album, Sing 20 Number One Hits. Justin Hayward recorded a version on his 1984 covers album, Classic Blue. The Fureys and Davey Arthur covered the song in 1985 on their album At the End of the Day. A live solo electric version by James Dean Bradfield of The Manic Street Preachers, recorded in 1994 at the last gig played by the original four-piece, was released as a cassette single B side in 1996. This version is included on the rare tracks compilation Lipstick Traces. Philip Hall, the band's first manager, had died from cancer earlier in 1994. The song was later covered by Stephen Gately in 2000 and used as the theme song of the Watership Down animated television series. It was released as a double A-side with his single "New Beginning". While Mike Batt, who wrote the original song, composed an entire new score. This new cover went on to earn the TV show a nomination for a Gemini Award, for best original score. [1] Cliff Richard covered the song on the VHS/DVD release of The Countdown Concert in 2000. Hayley Westenra also recorded a version on her self-titled 2001 album. Remy Zero recorded a version for the 2002 children's charity CD For the Kids It was again re-recorded in 2005 by Joseph McManners whose version debuted at number one in Asian airplay, ahead of James Blunt and Prince.[2] It was released again on Declan Galbraith's 2006 album, entitled Thank You. Swedish saxophonist Johan Stengård recorded an instrumental version on his 2003 album On My Mind. Tommy Steele released a version on his Family Album. Elaine Paige also recorded the song for her 1984 Cinema album. Manchester band Puressence played the song as their required cover version during a session on BBC Radio 2 on Saturday 29 September 2007. It was very well received and the band have been inundated with requests to release it as a future B-side. In 1979 Siv-Inger recorded the song with lyrics in Swedish as Varför, on the Liv och kärlek album.[3] This version was tested for Svensktoppen, where it stayed for 10 weeks during the period 30 March-1 June 1980, peaking at #4.[4] In 2008, the final Olivers sang this song as one of their first two performances in the first two shows of I'd Do Anything. Mike Batt released his own version of the song on the compilation album "A Songwriter's Tale". Isabel Suckling sang the song on her 2010 album "The Choirgirl". [edit] Popular culture
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[edit] External links
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