Behind These Hazel Eyes
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" is a song by American singer Kelly Clarkson for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). It was written by Clarkson with the song's producers Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The song was released on April 12, 2005, as the second single from the album. Clarkson considered "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of her favorite songs and she once intended to name Breakaway after the song. "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is an uptempo song that incorporates crunchy guitars which are pulsated with driving beats and anthemic choruses; it narrates Clarkson's broken relationship with her ex-boyfriend.
Not to be confused with Behind Hazel Eyes."Behind These Hazel Eyes"
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed inside the top 10 in the chart for 15 weeks, a record for the longest time spent in the top 10 for a song that did not hit top five, until it was beaten by Rihanna's "Needed Me" in 2016. It also became Clarkson's first song to top the Adult Pop Songs chart. It was certified platinum from Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million digital downloads. Elsewhere, the song charted in the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Danyi Deats-Barrett. The concept of the video was conceived by Clarkson and depicts her as a bride who experiences some dream-like hints that her fiancé is having an affair with a brunette ceremony attendee. The music video premiered online at MTV and it also received heavy rotation on Total Request Live. The song was performed live by Clarkson at numerous venues, including the Breakaway World Tour (2005) and the All I Ever Wanted Tour (2009).
Composition[edit]
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" is a power ballad that was written by Clarkson, Max Martin, and Dr. Luke and produced by the latter two.[7][8] Sheet music for the song shows common time with a moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute, in the key of F♯ minor with the vocal range spanning over two octaves from F♯3 to F♯5.[9] The bridge was the only part of the song that was written by Dr. Luke and Martin together with Clarkson face to face.[3] The song begins with Clarkson wailing "oh oh oh" over a restless percussion.[10] In the first verse, the music becomes quiet to focus on Clarkson's vocal as she wails "Seems like just yesterday/You were a part of me/I used to stand so tall/I used to be so strong/Your arms around me tight/Everything it felt so right/Unbreakable like nothing could go wrong."[10] During the chorus, the sound of electronic guitar is dominant as she vocalizes "Here I am/Once again/I'm torn into pieces/Can't deny it/Can't pretend/Just thought you were the one/Broken up deep inside/But you won't get to see the tears I cry/Behind these hazel eyes."[10] Gil Kaufman of MTV noticed that the song "soared on crunchy guitars, driving beats and anthemic, agitated choruses."[11]
Lyrically, the song narrates the story of a failed relationship which initially started off well. Clarkson regrets having allowed herself to be vulnerable to her ex-boyfriend and she is determined that despite the pain that she feels, he will not get the satisfaction of seeing her cry.[12] Michael Paoletta of Billboard praised Clarkson's vocal, writing "Clarkson simply delivers a loose, tour-de-force vocal that simmers alongside a steroid-charged musical backdrop that is fun, fast and furious."[13] Scott Juba of The Trade praised the production of the song, writing "The song's strong hook pulls listeners in and involves them in the lyrics without ever becoming gimmicky or manipulative." He also complimented Clarkson's vocal which "oscillates between pain and defiance with near pinpoint accuracy."[14]
Chart performance[edit]
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" debuted at number eighty-seven on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending, April 23, 2005.[29] The song stayed inside the top ten in Billboard Hot 100 for fifteen weeks before peaking at number six on the week ending June 11, 2005.[30][31][32] It consequently held the record as the song with the most weeks in the chart's top ten without hitting the top five, before being surpassed by Rihanna's "Needed Me" which spent sixteen weeks in the top ten but only peaked at number seven, eleven years later in 2016.[33]
On the week ending May 28, 2005, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" jumped from number seven to number three on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay chart.[34] With "Since U Been Gone" holding steady at number two, the ascent made Clarkson the first artist with two songs in the top three of the chart.[35] The song also appeared on the US Pop Songs at number thirty on the week ending April 30, 2005,[36] and peaked at number two on the week ending July 9, 2005.[37] It spent seven consecutive weeks at number two and was held off the top spot by Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". It became the sixteenth ranked single of the 2000s decade on the Pop Songs chart compiled by Billboard.[38] On the Billboard's Radio Songs, the song peaked at number four on August 6, 2005.[39] On the week ending August 27, 2005, the song topped the Adult Top 40 and stayed in the position for five consecutive weeks.[40][41] On January 31, 2008, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).[42] The song has sold 1,644,000 digital copies in the United States as of September 2017.[43]
Internationally, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was a commercial success. In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number six on the week ending July 3, 2005.[44] In New Zealand, the song entered New Zealand Singles Chart and peaked at number seven on the week ending July 4, 2005, as the highest debut of the week.[45] In the United Kingdom, the song also debuted and peaked at number nine on the week ending October 1, 2005.[46] In Ireland, the song debuted at number nine on the week ending September 22, 2005,[47] and peaked at number four on the week ending November 3, 2005.[48]
Music video[edit]
Background and release[edit]
The music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and was produced by Danyi Deats-Barrett.[49] It was shot for two days in April 2005 in Toronto at a Church and a sound stage while Clarkson was on tour.[50] According to Kahn, Clarkson was sick during the production and could not speak. During Clarkson's wardrobe fitting, they communicated together using notes written by her.[51] Though she is seen speaking and is interviewed in the behind the scenes footage.[52] Access Hollywood reported that a single sprinkler was used to produce rain in the music video. The concept of the music video was conceived by Clarkson. She explained, "The whole thing is a metaphor about a broken fairy tale [...] You think everything is going well, and then reality kicks your butt. It's kind of a sad video, but it's going to be my best one. It's real, and that's why people like me."[50] Clarkson also added that after the production of the music video was completed, she had bruises and a green-and-yellow splotch on her left biceps.[50] The music video premiered online on May 9, 2005, on MTV.[53] On May 16, 2005, it premiered on Total Request Live where it debuted at number five on the chart the following day.[54]
Synopsis[edit]
The music video begins with Clarkson standing in a room wearing a white wedding dress. Holding a bouquet of red roses, she is surrounded by her bridesmaids as they prepare for her wedding. She sits down on a sofa and sees a wedding photo of her fiancé with another woman as a storm grows outside. The bridesmaids are unable to close the windows so they run out of the room leaving Clarkson alone, who is seen dropping the bouquet of rose as well as the wedding photo from her hands onto the floor. The next scene shows Clarkson walking down the aisle in a church wearing a black dress. She sees a bride standing at the altar with her fiancé, getting married. When she draws the veil of the bride, she realizes that the bride is the woman from the photo.
Clarkson, who is now wearing a white wedding dress, runs out of the church and into a dark swamp. A montage of Clarkson singing with her band in a dark swamp is shown alternately with scenes of Clarkson running in the forest and lying on the ground. Clarkson is also seen standing inside an abandoned house, wearing a voluminous black dress. As the rain starts to fall, Clarkson finally collapses, kneeling on the ground while looking at and being comforted by her other self who is singing with the band.
The scene shifts to a present day, where Clarkson is standing at the altar, exchanging vows with her fiancé. Before he puts the ring on her finger, she looks at the guests and notices that the woman from the photo is among the audience. She sees her fiancé exchanging a smile with the woman as the woman blows him a kiss. Clarkson then reaches for the ring and throws it at her fiancé, before running away from the altar. She throws her wedding bouquet into the lap of the woman and shoves her way past the wedding guests who are trying to stop her from leaving. The video ends with Clarkson stepping out the doors into the bright sunlight.
Reception[edit]
James Dinh of MTV Newsroom listed "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of the music videos with "a bad case of the runaway bride syndrome," writing, "Throughout the clip, Clarkson finds herself running through a swampy mud land until she snaps out of her visions, refuses to proceed with the wedding and makes a shocking escape out of the church."[55] Andrea Holmes of AOL ranked "Behind These Hazel Eyes" at number five in her list of "Top Wedding Music Videos: 15 Clips for the Big 'I Do'." She commented, "The perfect illustration of our point about wedding videos, 'Behind These Hazel Eyes' takes an atypical approach to marriage [...] Throughout the video the weather is dark and rainy, matching the story line, but when Clarkson ditches the wedding and runs out of the church, she is greeted with sunshine.[56] Johnni Macke of E! opined that the video was intense, writing "She is heartbroken and "torn into pieces" throughout the video once she discovers her love is marrying someone else and it results in epic cemetery rock sessions and rolling in the mud."[57] Lyndsey Parker of Yahoo! Music put the song's music video at number 22 on her list of the best matrimony-themed musical videos of all time.[58]
In an interview with MTV, the lead vocalist of Yellowcard, Ryan Key, praised Clarkson in the music video. He said, "She is so unbelievably gorgeous in that video that is all over TV right now [...] The wet wedding dress and the wet hair and ... come on, man! Who knew? She is so hot. She looks so good in it."[59] Robert Copsey of Digital Spy opined that the music video is Clarkson's best video to date.[19] The music video had a successful run at Total Request Live where it topped the chart for 33 days, a record that Clarkson holds for the longest stay by a female artist at number one on the chart.[60][61]
Cover versions[edit]
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" was covered by Cassadee Pope in the third season of The Voice. According to Pope, she decided to sing the song in order to reach out to her father who divorced from her mother when she was still 11 years old.[66] Her rendition was praised by Christina Aguilera saying, "I got to feel your heart."[67]
Recording
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Breakaway.[70]