Eyes Open (song)
"Eyes Open" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for The Hunger Games movie soundtrack, The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, though the song is not included in the film itself. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, it was released as the second single from the album and was sent to mainstream radio on March 27, 2012. A lyric video consisting of animation was released on Vevo in May 2012.
This article is about the song by Taylor Swift. For other songs, see Eyes Open."Eyes Open"
A re-recording of the song, titled "Eyes Open (Taylor's Version)", was released on March 17, 2023, via Republic Records. The re-recording is part of Swift's plan to re-record her back catalog, following the dispute over the ownership of the masters of her first six albums.
Background[edit]
The song was one of two songs that Swift wrote and recorded for the soundtrack to the film, The Hunger Games, the other song being "Safe & Sound". Swift first premiered the song during a performance in Auckland for her Speak Now World Tour, before launching into the song she told the crowd: "I'm really excited about it...but, I mean, you don't think I'd get in trouble if I played it now? Probably not, right?".[1] The song was leaked before its official release date of March 20, 2012.[2][3] A music video comprised as a lyric video was released on May 17, 2012, on Swift's Vevo account.[4][5] The video consists of animation with the song's lyrics.[6]
Composition[edit]
"Eyes Open" is four minutes and four seconds in length. Critics described the song's genre as alternative rock.[7][8] Billboard said that it "[exists] more in the modern rock vein than [Swift's] usual country-pop oeuvre".[9] According to Swift, she wrote the song about Katniss's "relationship" with the Capitol. Swift describes the song as the opposite of the melancholic "Safe & Sound," stating that "[it is] more frantic and fast-paced, a completely different shade of music."[10]
Critical reception[edit]
The song garnered general critical acclaim from contemporary critics - most of whom favorably noted the song's more rock-oriented tone as compared to her previous releases. While reviewing The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, Matt Bjorke named "Eyes Open" as one of the "standouts" on the record.[11] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also found the same description of the song - stating that it "[exists] more in the modern rock vein than her usual country-pop oeuvre."[12] In June 2022, Insider ranked "Eyes Open" as Swift's third best soundtrack song, only behind "Safe & Sound" and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever".[13]
Commercial performance[edit]
Upon the soundtrack's release, "Eyes Open" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 19 with 176,000 digital copies as the week's highest debut.[16] After it was sent to mainstream radio, the song debuted on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart at number 28 and was Swift's highest debut to date; it would reach number 20 on the chart.[17][18] On December 2012, "Eyes Open" received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA);[19] it became Swift's sixteenth million-seller and her second from the soundtrack after "Safe & Sound".[20] By November 2017, the song had sold 1.4 million units in the United States.[21]
Elsewhere, "Eyes Open" peaked on the charts in various Anglophone territories, at number 17 in Canada,[22] number 47 in Australia,[23] number 65 in Ireland,[24] and number 70 in the United Kingdom.[25] In New Zealand, the song debuted and peaked at number six on the RMNZ's Top 40 Singles chart and was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ).[26][27]