Title: “Bright Eyes”
Artiste: Art Garfunkel
Nationality: American
Year: 1979
Genre: Soft Rock
Subgenre:
Source: Art Garfunkel 1979 album
Fate for Breakfast and
Watership Down OST, 1978
Written by: Mike Batt
Chart position(s) (Singles only): UK: 1
Storyline: A song depicting the short lifespan of a rabbit, as depicted in the movie
Watership Down
Main instrument: Acoustic guitar
Other version(s) by:
Comments: It's impossible to hear this song without seeing in your mind's eye the video for it, taken from the movie of Richard Adams's classic children's novel,
Watership Down, about a family of rabbits and the perilous journey they undertake to find a new home after their old one is dug up by humans. I doubt it was the first time I had heard of Art Garfunkel – I'm sure I'd heard Simon and Garfunkel at this point – but I do think it was the first time I heard him as a solo artist. Rather interesting that the song was written by a man who used to play in the band the Wombles, considering it's about rabbits! Specially written by Mike Batt at the request of the film's director, it was a huge hit, at least in the UK, getting right to the top and staying there for six weeks. Interesting too, that Chris Spedding, another from Batt's band The Wombles, plays the guitar here.
The song is a wistful, sad conversation between the writer (perhaps meant to be God, I don't know) and one of the rabbits, the hero of the tale, Hazel, who ends up dying. Sorry if you haven't read the book or seen the movie, but it's been forty years since the latter and forty-five since the former saw the light of day, so I think spoiler tags would be superfluous at this point. The narrator seems to be unable to understand or accept death - “How can the light that burned so brightly/ Suddenly burn so pale?” - and the overall theme of the song is sadness and bewilderment at the brevity and cruelty of life. A song that's hard not to tear up to when you listen to it, especially if you watch the video alongside it.
Rating: 