Released 1998 Recorded 1997 Length 5:24 | Format CD single Genre Soft Rock | |
B-side "Theme from a Movie That Never Happened", "Inside of Me" | ||
"My Father's Eyes" is a song written and performed by Eric Clapton and produced by Clapton himself and Simon Climie. It was released as a single in 1998 and was featured on the album Pilgrim. The song reached the top 40 on the Billboard Airplay chart, peaking at number 16, and spent five weeks at number two on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. "My Father's Eyes" won a Grammy award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance.
Contents
Clapton performed this track for the first time in 1992 and again in 1996, in both electric and unplugged versions. These versions of the song were completely different from the version released as a single released in 1998. He would later retire the song in 2004, along with "Tears in Heaven", until the 50 Years Further On Up The Road world tour in 2013.
Inspiration and content
The song is inspired by the fact that Clapton never met his father, who died in 1985. Describing how Clapton wishes he knew his father, "My Father's Eyes" also refers to Clapton's son Conor, who died at age four after falling from an apartment window. "In it I tried to describe the parallel between looking in the eyes of my son, and the eyes of the father that I never met, through the chain of our blood", said Clapton in his autobiography.
Music video
In the beginning of the music video (directed by Kevin Godley), we see a basketball which dribbles seven times, the seventh dribble causing the basketball to break into pieces. This dribbling footage returns at the end of the video, without the basketball breaking. Between these scenes, there is footage of Eric Clapton playing slide guitar and running on a treadmill.
Track listing
- "My Father's Eyes"
- "Change The World"
- "Theme from a Movie That Never Happened" (Orchestral)
- "Inside of Me"