These Eyes (song)

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“These Eyes”

Single by The Guess Who from the album Wheatfield Soul
B-side	"Lightfoot"
Released	1968 (Canada) April, 1969 (US)
Format	7" 45 RPM
Genre	Pop
Length	3:45
Label	Nimbus 9 (Canada) RCA (US)
Writer(s)	Randy Bachman, Burton Cummings
Producer	Jack Richardson

"These Eyes" is a 1968 song by the Canadian rock band The Guess Who. The song was co-written by the group's lead guitarist, Randy Bachman and lead singer, Burton Cummings and originally included on the band's 1968 album Wheatfield Soul. Bachman had the original piano chords with an original title of "These Arms." Cummings changed the title to "These Eyes" and added the middle eight.^[1] It was first released as a single (backed by "Lightfoot"), in their native Canada, where its chart success helped land them a U.S. distribution deal with RCA Records. It was then released in the U.S. in April of 1969, and became a breakthrough success for the group, as it would be their first single to reach the top ten on the U.S. Pop chart, peaking at number six, and would eventually be certified gold by the RIAA for sales of over one million copies. While it was actually the eighteenth single released by the band, it was the first from the quartet of Cummings, Bachman, Jim Kale, and Garry Peterson as produced by Jack Richardson.^[2]

The song has been used in the films Now and Then (1995), Stay (2005) and Superbad (2007) where it is sung briefly by Evan (Michael Cera) and moments later the original Guess Who version is playing on the police car radio.

There have been a few cover versions of the song released over the years. The most notable is probably Junior Walker & the All-Stars' version. Released as a single in October of 1969, this version was also a chart success in the U.S., reaching number three on the R&B Singles Chart and number sixteen on the Pop Singles Chart.

Canadian hip-hop artist and rapper Maestro (rapper) sampled this song for his 1998 Canadian hit "Stick to Your Vision," off the Built to Last album. In addition, the chorus (of which the first part states "These eyes/Seen a lot of shame in the game/These eyes/Seen a lot of pain in the fame/These eyes/Seen a lot of highs and lows/But that's just the way life goes") uses Burton Cummings' vocals for the words "these eyes" in a call-and-response manner.