Bright Eyes (Art Garfunkel song)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For other songs with the same name, see Bright Eyes (disambiguation).

Bright Eyes is a song written by Mike Batt, and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of Watership Down. Originally written about the death of Batt's father from cancer (the "bright eyes" of the title being the result of opiate painkillers), in the context of the film it relates to the transition through 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.

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. This version was produced by Neil Innes and the single reached Number 121 in the UK Charts. The track also appeared on the Tiswas album.

A live acoustic cover 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 that year.

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. 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.^[1]