Pale Blue Eyes
| "Pale Blue Eyes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Song by The Velvet Underground from the album The Velvet Underground | ||||
| Released | 1969 | |||
| Recorded | November–December 1968 TTG Studios, Hollywood |
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| Genre | Rock, folk rock, art rock | |||
| Length | 5:41 | |||
| Label | MGM Records | |||
| Writer | Lou Reed | |||
| Composer | Lou Reed | |||
| Producer | The Velvet Underground | |||
| The Velvet Underground track listing | ||||
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"Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written by Lou Reed and performed by The Velvet Underground. It was included on the band's eponymous 1969 album The Velvet Underground.
"Pale Blue Eyes" - along with a number of Reed's other songs - was inspired by his college sweetheart and muse, Shelly Albin, who indeed had pale blue eyes.
The original song has five verses. First verse starts: "Sometimes I feel so happy; sometimes I feel so sad." The refrain goes: "Linger on your pale blue eyes".
When deciding on a song to play for the first reunion of The Velvet Underground at the Fondation Cartier in 1990, Lou Reed initially said he wanted to play "Pale Blue Eyes", but when someone reminded him that the song was from after John Cale's tenure with the band, Reed declared "then it will have to be Heroin".[citation needed]
[edit] Notable cover versions
"Pale Blue Eyes" has been covered by a number of artists[1] in addition to Lou Reed and Maureen Tucker from Velvet Underground:
- Patti Smith performed the song live from the 1960s throughout the 1970s.
- Edwyn Collins recorded the song with Paul Quinn and released it as a single in 1984.
- R.E.M. covered the song for their 1987 album Dead Letter Office.
- Hole covered the song live at the Whiskey A Go Go in February 1992, and frontwoman Courtney Love introduced it as "the original new waver".[2] Hole's version included lyrically-altered verses but retained the chorus lyrics and chord progression. The recording eventually ended up on the band's first EP, Ask For It (1995).
- Marisa Monte has a cover of the song on her album Rose and Charcoal.
- Counting Crows covered the song several times at live shows in 2003 and later.
- The Kills recorded the song in 2010.
- G. Love recorded the song on his 2011 album Fixin' To Die.
An instrumental version of the song was used in Julian Schnabel's 2007 film The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.[3] The song was also used in a scene of the 2008 film August[citation needed], as well as 2009's Adventureland.
The original song was featured during the final scenes of the January 25, 2009 episode of Cold Case (CBS) entitled "The Brush Man". This program regularly features music popular during the time when the cold case being investigated had occurred. Although the murder in this episode occurred in 1967, "Pale Blue Eyes" was on the album entitled "The Velvet Underground" that was released in 1969. The song was also featured in an episode of Crossing Jordan and an episode of Fringe.
[edit] References
- ^ "Pale Blue Eyes"[dead link] at Allmusic (Retrieved on June 23, 2007, and again on March 22, 2008)
- ^ "Ask For It by Hole". CD Universe. http://www.cduniverse.com/search/xx/music/pid/1020222/a/Ask+For+It.htm. Retrieved 26 August 2011.
- ^ Full Credits for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)" (Retrieved on March 22, 2008)
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