The Story in Your Eyes

"The Story in Your Eyes"
Single by The Moody Blues
from the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour
B-side	"My Song" (Holland) "Melancholy Man" (US)
Released	27 August 1971
Recorded	4 November 1970
Genre	Progressive rock, hard rock
Length	2:57 (album) 3:07 (single)
Label	Threshold Records
Writer(s)	Justin Hayward
Producer(s)	Tony Clarke
The Moody Blues singles chronology
"Question" (1970) "The Story in Your Eyes" (1971) "Isn't Life Strange" (1972)

"The Story in Your Eyes" is a 1971 hit single by the English rock band The Moody Blues. Written by the band's guitarist Justin Hayward, it was first released as a single with "My Song" on the B-side, and then on the 1971 album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour shortly after.

On the album, "The Story in Your Eyes" is the second track, and is preceded by the track "Procession". "Procession" was the first and only song that was written by all five members of the band. The song was intended to describe the history of music from the beginning of time, and the only three words in the whole piece are "desolation", "creation", and "communication".

"The Story in Your Eyes" features a repeated electric guitar riff, a propulsive yet elegant bass line, and Justin Hayward on lead vocals, while incremental use of a Mellotron and a choral background generates an expansive, rhapsodic sound. "The Story in Your Eyes" was the Moody Blues' final single to feature only the Mellotron as it would be supplanted by the chamberlin, a similar instrument in time for their next album, Seventh Sojourn. The SACD release of the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour contains a version of "The Story in Your Eyes" that has the Mellotron in dominant role.

The distinctive picture sleeve used for the French single release used a photograph of a close-up face with the Threshold logo in place of the mouth.

Personnel

• Justin Hayward – vocals, acoustic and electric guitar
• John Lodge – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Mike Pinder – Mellotron, piano, backing vocals
• Ray Thomas – tambourine, backing vocals
• Graeme Edge – drums, percussion

Cover versions

Stiv Bators released a single in 1987 on Bomp! of "Story in Your Eyes" backed with "Have Love, Will Travel". It is included on Bators' retrospective CD L.A. L.A..

Fountains of Wayne did a cover version of the song for their 2010 album Sky Full of Holes. It was available only as an Amazon.com MP3 bonus track.

Chart positions