I Only Have Eyes for You

"I Only Have Eyes for You" is a popular romantic love song by composer Harry Warren and lyricist Al Dubin, written in 1934 for the film Dames where it was introduced by Dick Powell and Ruby Keeler.

According to Billboard magazine, the song was a #2 hit for Ben Selvin in 1934. The orchestras of Eddie Duchin and Anson Weeks also figured in the song's 1934 popularity, and was used the following year in the film, The Woman in Red, produced by Warner Bros., starring Barbara Stanwyck and Gene Raymond. It was also used in the film Tea for Two, sung by Gordon MacRae. This song was recorded in 1950 by Peggy Lee, and by the Flamingos in 1959, becoming one of their most popular hits. Rolling Stone magazine ranked the Flamingos' version #157 on their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. This version peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The song is a jazz standard, and has been covered by thousands of musicians.

A remake of the song by Art Garfunkel was a number one hit on the UK Singles Chart in October 1975 for two weeks.^[1] The song was his first hit as a solo artist in the UK. In the US, the song reached #18 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #1 on the adult contemporary chart.^[2] The B-side of the single release was "Looking For the Right One," a song written by Stephen Bishop. Garfunkel performed "I Only Have Eyes for You" on the second episode of Saturday Night Live.

The Flamingos version

This song was published on The Flamingos' debut album Flamingo Serenade. The version by the Flamingos features a prominent reverb effect, creating a dreamy ambience. This version peaked at #11 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on the R&B charts.^[3]

In popular culture

The Flamingos' version was included on the soundtracks for the 1973 film American Graffiti, 1983 films The Right Stuff and Heart Like a Wheel, the 1991 film My Girl, the 1993 Robert De Niro film A Bronx Tale and the 2003 movie Something's Gotta Give starring Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton. Grace (Nicole Kidman) also sings a portion of the song to Charles (Christopher Eccleston) in the 2001 film The Others. The trailer of The Grudge 2 also briefly features the song. In the 2001 sci-fi movie A.I. Artificial Intelligence, Gigolo Joe, a lover robot, has this song built into him, and he can play it by a tilt of his head. He plays it to seduce women.

On television, it was used as a recurring theme in a Tex Avery-directed Warner Bros. Merrie Melodies cartoon of the same title, in a scene in the 1989 episode of The Wonder Years, "How I'm Spending My Summer Vacation", and in a 1998 episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer involving two ghosts from the 1950s borrowing its title from the song and features excerpts of it in several scenes. Disney also featured a music video of the song in the special DTV Doggone Valentine set to clips from Lady and the Tramp. Most recently, the song has been used in episodes of the supernatural drama TV series 666 Park Avenue and in 2013 was featured in the series Glee.It was also featured in Star Trek: Voyager Season 2:Episode 19(lifesigns)°^[4]

This song makes an appearance twice in the game The Darkness 2, when Jackie Estacado dances with his love Jenny. In 2014 this song was appeared in the horror movie Annabelle (film). A 35-minute version of the song alternately featuring Beck, Devendra Banhart, No Age, Tilda Swinton, and other artists formed the audio portion of Doug Aitken's installation Song \ 1 at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C. from March 22 to May 20, 2012.

Covers

In addition to the above artists, these notable artists have also covered this song:

• Action Bronson sampled the Flamingos version in his song Thug Love Story 2012 on the mixtape Blue Chips, produced by Party Supplies.
• George Benson – Big Boss Band (1990)
• Trumpeter Lester Bowie recorded the tune with his Brass Fantasy band as the title track on their 1986 debut album I Only Have Eyes for You
• Liane Carroll – Standard Issue (2004)
• June Christy – A Friendly Session, Vol. 2 (1999) with the Johnny Guarnieri Quintet
• Rosemary Clooney, featured on commercial for Lipitor.
• Holly Cole – Night (2012)
• Chris Connor – Double Exposure (1961) with Maynard Ferguson
• An a cappella version by The Complexions was mixed with The Flamingos version for the 1993 film A Bronx Tale.
• Jamie Cullum
• Doris Day – Golden Girl: Columbia Recordings 1944-1966.
• Gitane Demone – Love for Sale (1993) and With Love and Dementia – Live in Cannes 1994
• Billy Eckstine – Complete Savoy Recording 1946
• Mark Eitzel of American Music Club released a version in 2002 on his solo CD of covers, Music for Courage and Confidence.
• Kurt Elling – 1619 Broadway – The Brill Building Project (2012)
• Ella Fitzgerald recorded the song with Nelson Riddle's orchestra on her 1966 Grammy Award-winning Verve release Ella Swings Brightly with Nelson.
• The Forester Sisters – I Got a Date.
• Though not a cover, The Fugees sampled vocals from The Flamingos' version for their song "Zealots" off of their landmark 1996 album The Score.
• Grenadine covered this song on their debut album Goya (1992), with Jenny Toomey singing lead.
• Billie Holiday – Billie Holiday Sings (1952, re-released in 1956 as Solitude)
• Al Jolson, featured in the 1949 Columbia movie Jolson Sings Again.
• Lionel Hampton, at the 1953 Paris shows that were recorded for the Jazztime Paris album. It's included on the expanded CD re-release.
• Mick Hucknall – American Soul (2012)
• Human Nature – Jukebox (2014)
• Johnny Maestro & the Brooklyn Bridge – Acappella (1994)
• Kevin Max – "Starry Eyes Surprise" (2015)
• Mercury Rev released a cover version in 1998 as an extra track on the "Goddess on a Hiway" CD single.
• Nellie McKay in her cabaret show I Want to Live! (2011-2012)
• Carmen McRae – Diva
• Melanie C – Stages (2012)
• Camila Meza
• Bette Midler
• North Atlantic Oscillation – Call Signs EP (2009).
• Daniel Lopatin, under his Oneohtrix Point Never alias, produced a remix of the song that was released in 2014 on Commissions I.
• Hi-NRG producer/songwriter Bobby Orlando did a dance version with Bonnie Forman in 1984.
• Elaine Paige – Love Can Do That (1991).
• Rahsaan Patterson – Bleuphoria
• Lyn Paul – Late Night (2006)
• Rachael Price
• Corinne Bailey Rae: Grec 2010, Festival de Barcelona, Teatre Grec, Barcelona
• Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers
• Cliff Richard, Love Songs (1963 EP; also released as a single in Australia)
• Kenny Rogers – Vote for Love (1996)
• Timothy B. Schmit as featured in the film Don't Tell Mom the Babysitter's Dead
• Marilyn Scott, whose version was released in the soundtrack album for the 1988 film Twins.
• Dinah Shore
• Carly Simon
• Frank Sinatra – It All Depends on You" / "I Only Have Eyes for You" (with The Ken Lane Singers) (1949), Sinatra–Basie (1962)
• Paul Anka
• The Southland, on their debut album Influence of Geography
• Rod Stewart
• Summer Camp
• The Swallows, in 1952
• The Temptations, produced by Bill Conti, and featured in the 1987 film Happy New Year
• Toni Tennille – Never Let Me Go (1991)
• Martina Topley-Bird recorded a version for the Starbucks compilation Sweetheart 2005: Love Songs
• Alex Willner, with his techno project The Field (musician), used samples of the song in the track "From Here We Go Sublime", from the acclaimed album of the same name, released in 2007.
• Kalil Wilson – Easy to Love (2009).
• Zapp

References

Notes

Sources

• The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits, 6th Edition, 1996

External links

• Lyrics of this song at MetroLyrics