Bright Eyes (song)

"Bright Eyes" is a song written by British songwriter Mike Batt and performed by Art Garfunkel. It was written for the soundtrack of the 1978 British animated adventure drama film Watership Down. Rearranged as a pop song from its original form in the film, the track appears on British and European versions of Garfunkel's 1979 Fate for Breakfast and on the US versions of his 1981 album Scissors Cut. "Bright Eyes" topped the UK Singles Chart for six weeks and became Britain's biggest-selling single of 1979, selling over a million copies. Richard Adams, author of the original novel, is reported to have hated the song.^[2] A cover of the song, performed by Stephen Gately, was later used explicitly in the Watership Down television series as its theme song.^[3]

"Bright Eyes"
Single by Art Garfunkel
from the album Fate for Breakfast
B-side	"Kehaar's Theme"
Released	19 January 1979 (19 January 1979)[1]
Length	4:00
Label	Columbia
Songwriter(s)	Mike Batt
Producer(s)	Mike Batt
Art Garfunkel singles chronology
"In a Little While (I'll Be on My Way)" (1979) "Bright Eyes" (1979) "Since I Don't Have You" (1979)

Background

The song was written, produced and arranged by Mike Batt for Watership Down, with original director John Hubley requesting a song about death.^[4] It plays when the rabbit Hazel, the lead character in the film, almost dies after being wounded by a farmer's gun and Fiver, his little brother is led to him by the Black Rabbit of Inlé.^[5]

Batt described recording the song as "one of the most difficult sessions" of his career as he wrote the lyrics with his father in mind who was terminally ill with cancer at the time.

The pop single arrangement of the song was very successful in the United Kingdom, staying at number one in the UK Singles Chart for six weeks in 1979,^[6] selling over one million copies, becoming the biggest-selling single of the year.^[7][8] In the United States, it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100. It reached No. 29 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart.

Personnel

• Art Garfunkel – vocals
• Mike Batt – arranger producer
• Chris Spedding – acoustic guitar
• Roland Harker – lute guitar
• Les Hurdle – bass guitar
• Roy J. Morgan – drums
• Edwin Roxburgh – oboe
• Ray Cooper – percussion

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (1979) Peak position Australia (Kent Music Report)[9] 2 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[10] 3 Belgium (Ultratop 50 Flanders)[11] 1 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[12] 1 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[13] 1 New Zealand (Recorded Music NZ)[14] 2 Norway (VG-lista)[15] 3 Sweden (Sverigetopplistan)[16] 3 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[17] 2 UK Singles (OCC)[18] 1 West Germany (GfK)[19] 3

Year-end charts Chart (1979) Position Australia (Kent Music Report)[20][21] 20 Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)[22] 12 Belgium (Ultratop Flanders)[23] 5 Netherlands (Dutch Top 40)[24] 3 Netherlands (Single Top 100)[25] 1 Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)[26] 3 West Germany (Official German Charts)[27] 5

In popular culture

The song was briefly heard in the 2005 stop-motion animated film Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, when Gromit turn on the radio until he heard the were-rabbit approaching.

In 2023, the song featured heavily in the fifth episode of season six of the popular Netflix anthology series, Black Mirror , titled "Demon 79", which is set in 1979, the year of the song's release. The song serves as the episode's opening and closing theme.^[28][29]

References

1. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes". 45cat.com. Archived from the original on 23 February 2020. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
2. "I HATE "Bright Eyes"!". lettersofnote.com. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
3. Doran, Sarah (25 December 2018). "Watership Down theme song: who sung the theme tune in new BBC/Netflix TV series?". Radio Times. Retrieved 17 October 2024.
4. Allen, Liam (3 March 2009). "Was it a kind of bad dream?". BBC News. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 6 July 2020.
5. The, movie. YouTube.
6. Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. pp. 366–7. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
7. Sedghi, Ami (4 November 2012). "UK's million-selling singles: the full list". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 12 December 2016. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
8. Allen, Liam (3 March 2009). "Was it a kind of bad dream?". BBC. Archived from the original on 6 July 2020. Retrieved 29 May 2021.
9. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 121. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
10. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes" (in German). Ö3 Austria Top 40. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
11. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes" (in Dutch). Ultratop 50. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
12. "Nederlandse Top 40 – week 22, 1979" (in Dutch). Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
13. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes" (in Dutch). Single Top 100. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
14. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes". Top 40 Singles. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
15. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes". VG-lista. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
16. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes". Singles Top 100. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
17. "Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes". Swiss Singles Chart. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
18. "Art Garfunkel: Artist Chart History". Official Charts Company. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
19. "Offiziellecharts.de – Art Garfunkel – Bright Eyes" (in German). GfK Entertainment charts. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
20. Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 431. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
21. "Kent Music Report No 288 – 31 December 1979 > National Top 100 Singles for 1979". Kent Music Report. Retrieved 10 January 2023 – via Imgur.com.
22. "Jahreshitparade Singles 1979". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
23. "Jaaroverzichten 1979". Ultratop. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
24. "Top 100-Jaaroverzicht van 1979". Dutch Top 40. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
25. "Jaaroverzichten – Single 1979". dutchcharts.nl. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
26. "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1979". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
27. "Top 100 Single-Jahrescharts". GfK Entertainment (in German). offiziellecharts.de. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
28. Dodes, Rachel (16 June 2023). "Black Mirror Season 6: Every Episode, Reviewed". Esquire. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
29. "Listen to Art Garfunkel's 'Bright Eyes' from Black Mirror S6 Ep5 as Nida gets ready and goes to work". leosigh.com. 16 June 2023. Retrieved 27 June 2023.