| "Blue Eyes Blue" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Single byEric Clapton | ||||
| from the albumClapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton | ||||
| Released | July 20, 1999 (1999-07-20) | |||
| Genre | Acoustic · pop ·pop rock | |||
| Length | 4:43 | |||
| Label | Reprise | |||
| Songwriter | Diane Warren | |||
| Producer | Rob Cavallo | |||
| Eric Clapton singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Music video | ||||
| "Blue Eyes Blue" onYouTube | ||||
"Blue Eyes Blue" is a pop song written by American songwriterDiane Warren. The tune was written for the 1999 soundtrack ofRunaway Bride.[1] The British rock musicianEric Clapton recorded the song forthe soundtrack and released his performance of the song as a single on July 20, 1999, forReprise Records.
The pop track was written by Diane Warren, especially for the 1999 romantic comedy filmRunaway Bride, starringJulia Roberts andRichard Gere.[2] The song waspublished under Realsongs, a division ofAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers organization.[3]
Clapton recorded the song in Los Angeles, atOcean Way/Record One Studios in the summer of 1999. The track was recorded at Los Angeles facility's Studio B, featuring an 80-input Solid State Logic SL 9000Jconsole. When it came time for Clapton to record on the Diane Warren song, Allen Sides, owner of Ocean Way Studios worked on the release as the leadingrecording engineer.[4] The recording was produced by Rob Cavallo.[5] Greg Curtis and Blumpy were in charge of the recording'smusic programming andChris Lord-Algemixed "Blue Eyes Blue". The recording featured Eric Clapton singing and playing the guitar,Greg Curtis on keyboards andbackground vocals,Tim Pierce and Darryl Crooks on rhythm guitar,Nathan East as the bassist,Steve Ferrone on drums,Jamie Muhoberac on keyboards,Luis Conte and Mike Fasano on the percussion instrument. Orchestral composerDavid Campbellarranged the strings for the release.[3]
The song was released on July 27, 1999, as part of theRunaway Bride soundtrack on compact disc andmusic cassette, seven days after the single had been released.[6] On October 12, 1999, the song appeared on thecompilation albumClapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton.[7] On September 11, 2001, "Blue Eyes Blue" was released as part of the double albumUnplugged/Clapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton.[8] On November 25, 2002, the pop title was released on the compilation albumSongs of Love, byvarious artists.[9]
Billboard magazine's Paul Verna thinks, the track belongs to the genre of pop music.[10] Clapton himself called his take on the song "girls-like" and "soft".[11]
To help promote both the single and soundtrack's sales figures, Clapton filmed a music video to accompany the single release.[12] In the beginning, the music video shows Clapton, who dressed in a men's wedding outfit, sitting in front of a white church with aMartin Triple-O acoustic guitar, followed by a scene from the movie, in which Julia Roberts is riding a horse. Afterwards, Clapton is shown singing and playing the song inside the church, while several snippets of the horse-scene re-appear.
Several scenes from the movie appear with Clapton being shown in between the movie sequences. Two minutes and twenty seconds into the music video, Clapton is shown, not wearing his entire suit anymore, playing and singing the song outside the church in a garden, where the wedding ceremony ofRunaway Bride was held. Afterward, the video shows Clapton playing his solo on the acoustic guitar. The video ends with Clapton sitting in front of the white church, as he did in the beginning of the shoot.[13]
The music video was produced byLuke Scott and directed by Richard Goldstein forWarner Music Entertainment, which released the video inhigh-definition picture on both theVHS and DVD ofClapton Chronicles: The Best of Eric Clapton.[14] The music video "Blue Eyes Blue" reached number nineteen onVH1's most-played music video chart in the United States.[15]
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Blue Eyes Blue" (Album Version) | Diane Warren | Rob Cavallo | 4:43 |
| 2. | "Circus" (Album Version, fromPilgrim) | Eric Clapton | Eric Clapton ·Simon Climie | 4:10 |
| 3. | "Wonderful Tonight" (Live, from24 Nights) | Eric Clapton | Russ Titelman | 5:25 |
| 4. | "Blue Eyes Blue" (Edit) | Diane Warren | Rob Cavallo | 4:19 |
| Total length: | 18:37 | |||
Billboard magazine's music critic Catherine Applefeld Olson calles the release a hot adult contemporary song. Another critic for the magazine, Paul Verna, reviews: "Clapton turns in a silky performance – reminiscent of hisBabyface collaboration 'Change the World' of the Diane Warren tune".[10]
AllMusic criticStephen Thomas Erlewine thinks, "Blue Eyes Blue" makes the soundtrack to the filmRunaway Bride a "crowd-pleaser" and "actually stronger than the average soundtrack of its ilk".[17]
The single debuted at number twenty-five on theBillboard Adult Contemporary chart,[18] where it stayed a total of twenty-six weeks on chart,[19] even gaining an Airpower recognition while charting in the second week,[20] eventually peaking at number four on theBillboard chart.[19]
The single did not reach theBillboard Hot 100 singles chart, but peaked at number 112 on the magazine's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart,[21] selling a total of 100,837 copies while on the chart.[22] "Blue Eyes Blue" also reached number twenty-nine onBillboard magazine's Adult Top 40 chart, where the release stayed for seven weeks.[23]
In Canada, the single reached number thirty onRPM magazine's Top Singles sales chart,[24] selling 1,064 copies in its first week on chart.[22] In addition, the pop single peaked at number two on the magazine's Adult Contemporary track chart,[25] and reached position forty-seven on the chart's 1999 year-end compilation.[26]
In Europe, the single was a medium successful release, reaching only number 94 on the British singles chart,[27] where the release stayed one week in the charts, selling just 9,322 copies.[22]
In Germany, the release peaked at number 84 on the Media Control singles chart and stayed a total of five weeks on the nation's singles chart.[28]
InPortugal, the release reached the Top 10, peaking at number six on its second charting week and was certified with aGold disc by the Associação Fonográfica Portuguesa, commemorating the sale of more than 20,000 copies in the country. In total, the single stayed thirteen weeks on the Portuguese Top 40 singles chart.[29]
InFinland, the single spent a total of four weeks on the country's singles chart and peaked at number five on its second week on chart.[30]
In Spain, "Blue Eyes Blue" reached its highest European position on the singles chart, peaking at number three in August 1999. It was also presented aPlatinum certification by the Productores de Música de España for outstanding singles sales of more than 50,000 copies.[31]
In Japan, the single peaked at number ten onOricon's Top Maxi Singles sales chart and reached number five on the Japanese Hot 100 singles chart.[32] "Blue Eyes Blue" also topped the nation's international singles chart for one week and placed itself on number forty-five on the chart's 1999 year-end compilation.[33] The single was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of Japan for sales exceeding 50,000 copies.[32]
In total, the single "Blue Eyes Blue" sold more than 500,000 copies worldwide.[22]
Weekly charts[edit]
| Year-end charts[edit]
|
| Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
|---|---|---|
| Japan (RIAJ)[32] | Gold | |
| Spain (PROMUSICAE)[31] | Platinum | 50,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. | ||
| Region | Year | Formats | Label | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 1999 | CD single | Reprise (Warner) | [36] |
| Canada | [24] | |||
| Finland | [30] | |||
| Germany | [28] | |||
| Japan | [37] | |||
| Malaysia | [38] | |||
| Portugal | [29] | |||
| Spain | [31] | |||
| United Kingdom | [39] | |||
| United States | [40] |
In the same year as Clapton's version, Dutch artistRené Froger released his version on his 1999 albumI Don't Break Easy.[citation needed]
