Give Me Your Eyes
Encyclopedia
"Give Me Your Eyes" is a song by contemporary Christian music
ian Brandon Heath
from his second album, What If We
. It was released in July 2008 as the album's lead single and quickly gained success. It sold nearly 6,000 downloads in the first week, and became 2008's highest-debuting Christian track at the time. It soon placed at No. 1 on Christian radio charts, and held the position for multiple consecutive weeks. At the end of 2008, it was the second most-played song of the year on Christian contemporary hit radio
.
The song is about wanting to see the world as God
would, and having a desire to view people with more compassion. "Give Me Your Eyes" was written by Heath and songwriter Jason Ingram
, and was generally well-received by critics. The song received two GMA Dove Awards in April 2009, including the Song of the Year title. It was also Grammy Award
-nominated in the Best Gospel Song
category for 2009.
and friend and songwriter Jason Ingram
. "We had a conversation over Chinese food that we wished we could have God’s perspective on things", Heath said. "If we did have His perspective, we'd wish we could have it for long periods of time, rather than just for a few seconds. That was the beginning." He soon began to pen a song about the idea, co-writing "Give Me Your Eyes" with Ingram. Prior to recording What If We
, Heath had written 40 possible tracks for the album, and although the song was not his top favorite, he noted that "Give Me Your Eyes" was "one of the first that really stuck out."
, and includes acoustic
and mild hip hop
influences. It is a mid-tempo song based upon a strummed acoustic guitar
, background piano
, and occasional strings. The song's continuous clap-sounding beat was described as a "hip-hop shuffle", drawing comparisons to Christian musician Mat Kearney
.
Lyrically, the song is about a desire to view people as God
would, and was "inspired by people-watching at an airport". Heath has said, "[it's] a song about my own convictions for wanting to see the world with compassionate eyes."
as the lead single from What If We
on July 23, 2008. Upon its release, the single was commercially successful and soon began to place on Christian radio charts. It made nearly 6,000 downloads in the first week, which was the highest-debuting Christian track of 2008 at the time. By the second week, another 6,700 copies were sold. It placed at No. 1 on Billboard
's Hot Christian Songs
chart beginning in September, and spent an end total of 14 consecutive weeks at the top by December. It also held the No. 1 position on the Radio & Records
(R&R) Christian CHR
chart for 13 consecutive weeks from the last week of August through the start of December. For the week of November 1, 2008, "Give Me Your Eyes" debuted on Billboards Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
chart at No. 22, which is equivalent to placing at No. 122 on the Hot 100.
By mid-September, it had sold 70,000 digital downloads. The song placed at No. 1 on the iTunes
top Christian songs chart and held the position from July through February for seven consecutive months, receiving 100,000 downloads on iTunes by late October. It ended 2008 as the second most-played song on R&Rs Christian CHR format; the song also placed at No. 9 for the year's top-played Christian AC songs.
and Now That's What I Call Faith
.
highlighted Heath's Grammy Award
-nominated What If We
album as one of the best Grammy nominees in Christian music that year, saying; "Mr. Heath's sense of wonder is firmly intact — 'Give Me Your Eyes,' which is nominated for best gospel song, is a breezy statement of humble devotion." The song was featured on USA Today
s top ten "pick of the week" playlist in the beginning of March 2009; the magazine's editor and music critic Brian Mansfield
said, "Grammy and Dove Award nominations are attracting a second look for Heath's song about seeing life's big picture." Jesus Freak Hideout
's Matthew Watson said of Heath's future music efforts: "it could be really outstanding if he sticks to more upbeat songs like 'Give Me Your Eyes'."
The song was Grammy Award-nominated in the Best Gospel Song
category for the 51st Grammy Awards
of 2009. It received two awards at the 40th GMA Dove Awards in April 2009: Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year. On January 30, 2010, the song won an Emmy for the Nashville Rescue Mission: Hunger to Hope public service announcement
campaign from the Midsouth Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
.
after most flights had landed for the night. It was directed by the Erwin Brothers and premiered on the Gospel Music Channel
on August 23, 2008. The video is mainly set in an airport as Brandon Heath walks among people, with interspersed shots of Heath sitting on steps and singing. The scenes of Heath sitting on stairs and in a chair were filmed in the older 1962 Birmingham Air Terminal which is adjacent to the current terminal and no longer used for passenger traffic. In the bridge of the song, a portion of the video is played backwards as he sings the lines "I want a second glance/So give me a second chance/To see the way You see the people all alone". In the last chorus, a few of the previous scenes are replayed as Heath now helps with people's individual situations. In one of the early shots, a woman steps in front of an approaching car; it is replayed as Heath intervenes and stops her from being hit by the car. The video's airport scene included about 100 extras
.
Contemporary Christian music
Contemporary Christian music is a genre of modern popular music which is lyrically focused on matters concerned with the Christian faith...
ian Brandon Heath
Brandon Heath
Brandon Heath is a contemporary Christian musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released three studio albums: Don't Get Comfortable , What If We and "Leaving Eden" . He is best known for the No. 1 "I'm Not Who I Was" and "Give Me Your Eyes". He was nominated four times at the Dove Awards of...
from his second album, What If We
What If We
What If We is the second studio album by contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Provident Label Group. The album debuted at #73 on the Billboard 200...
. It was released in July 2008 as the album's lead single and quickly gained success. It sold nearly 6,000 downloads in the first week, and became 2008's highest-debuting Christian track at the time. It soon placed at No. 1 on Christian radio charts, and held the position for multiple consecutive weeks. At the end of 2008, it was the second most-played song of the year on Christian contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
.
The song is about wanting to see the world as God
God in Christianity
In Christianity, God is the eternal being that created and preserves the universe. God is believed by most Christians to be immanent , while others believe the plan of redemption show he will be immanent later...
would, and having a desire to view people with more compassion. "Give Me Your Eyes" was written by Heath and songwriter Jason Ingram
Jason Ingram
Jason Ingram is a Christian music producer and songwriter. He has served as a songwriter for many Christian artists, including Sonicflood, Rebecca St. James, Bebo Norman, Point of Grace, and Brandon Heath, among others.-Career:...
, and was generally well-received by critics. The song received two GMA Dove Awards in April 2009, including the Song of the Year title. It was also Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated in the Best Gospel Song
Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song
The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to songwriters for quality gospel songs....
category for 2009.
Background
The song's meaning originated with a discussion between Brandon HeathBrandon Heath
Brandon Heath is a contemporary Christian musician from Nashville, Tennessee. He has released three studio albums: Don't Get Comfortable , What If We and "Leaving Eden" . He is best known for the No. 1 "I'm Not Who I Was" and "Give Me Your Eyes". He was nominated four times at the Dove Awards of...
and friend and songwriter Jason Ingram
Jason Ingram
Jason Ingram is a Christian music producer and songwriter. He has served as a songwriter for many Christian artists, including Sonicflood, Rebecca St. James, Bebo Norman, Point of Grace, and Brandon Heath, among others.-Career:...
. "We had a conversation over Chinese food that we wished we could have God’s perspective on things", Heath said. "If we did have His perspective, we'd wish we could have it for long periods of time, rather than just for a few seconds. That was the beginning." He soon began to pen a song about the idea, co-writing "Give Me Your Eyes" with Ingram. Prior to recording What If We
What If We
What If We is the second studio album by contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Provident Label Group. The album debuted at #73 on the Billboard 200...
, Heath had written 40 possible tracks for the album, and although the song was not his top favorite, he noted that "Give Me Your Eyes" was "one of the first that really stuck out."
Music and lyrics
The song's genre is represented by popPop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
, and includes acoustic
Acoustic music
Acoustic music comprises music that solely or primarily uses instruments which produce sound through entirely acoustic means, as opposed to electric or electronic means...
and mild hip hop
Hip hop
Hip hop is a form of musical expression and artistic culture that originated in African-American and Latino communities during the 1970s in New York City, specifically the Bronx. DJ Afrika Bambaataa outlined the four pillars of hip hop culture: MCing, DJing, breaking and graffiti writing...
influences. It is a mid-tempo song based upon a strummed acoustic guitar
Acoustic guitar
An acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, background piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
, and occasional strings. The song's continuous clap-sounding beat was described as a "hip-hop shuffle", drawing comparisons to Christian musician Mat Kearney
Mat Kearney
Mathew William "Mat" Kearney is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Kearney has received critical acclaim and widespread recognition for his Columbia Records debut, Nothing Left to Lose. So far, he has a total of four top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40...
.
Lyrically, the song is about a desire to view people as God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
would, and was "inspired by people-watching at an airport". Heath has said, "[it's] a song about my own convictions for wanting to see the world with compassionate eyes."
Release
"Give Me Your Eyes" was digitally releasedMusic download
A music download is the transferral of music from an Internet-facing computer or website to a user's local computer. This term encompasses both legal downloads and downloads of copyright material without permission or payment...
as the lead single from What If We
What If We
What If We is the second studio album by contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Provident Label Group. The album debuted at #73 on the Billboard 200...
on July 23, 2008. Upon its release, the single was commercially successful and soon began to place on Christian radio charts. It made nearly 6,000 downloads in the first week, which was the highest-debuting Christian track of 2008 at the time. By the second week, another 6,700 copies were sold. It placed at No. 1 on Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
's Hot Christian Songs
Hot Christian Songs
Christian Songs is a Billboard chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States....
chart beginning in September, and spent an end total of 14 consecutive weeks at the top by December. It also held the No. 1 position on the Radio & Records
R&R (magazine)
R&R was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes...
(R&R) Christian CHR
Contemporary hit radio
Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts...
chart for 13 consecutive weeks from the last week of August through the start of December. For the week of November 1, 2008, "Give Me Your Eyes" debuted on Billboards Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles
The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100...
chart at No. 22, which is equivalent to placing at No. 122 on the Hot 100.
By mid-September, it had sold 70,000 digital downloads. The song placed at No. 1 on the iTunes
ITunes Store
The iTunes Store is a software-based online digital media store operated by Apple. Opening as the iTunes Music Store on April 28, 2003, with over 200,000 items to purchase, it is, as of April 2008, the number-one music vendor in the United States...
top Christian songs chart and held the position from July through February for seven consecutive months, receiving 100,000 downloads on iTunes by late October. It ended 2008 as the second most-played song on R&Rs Christian CHR format; the song also placed at No. 9 for the year's top-played Christian AC songs.
Compilation
This song was also by the appearances by the compilation album WOW Hits 2009WOW Hits 2009
WOW Hits 2009 is a two-disc compilation album composed of some of the biggest hits on Christian radio during the previous year. Disc one features more of the adult contemporary hits, while disc two features the CHR–pop and rock hits....
and Now That's What I Call Faith
Now That's What I Call Faith
-Charts:...
.
Reception
The song was generally received well by critics. The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
highlighted Heath's Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-nominated What If We
What If We
What If We is the second studio album by contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath. It was released on August 19, 2008 through Provident Label Group. The album debuted at #73 on the Billboard 200...
album as one of the best Grammy nominees in Christian music that year, saying; "Mr. Heath's sense of wonder is firmly intact — 'Give Me Your Eyes,' which is nominated for best gospel song, is a breezy statement of humble devotion." The song was featured on USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
s top ten "pick of the week" playlist in the beginning of March 2009; the magazine's editor and music critic Brian Mansfield
Brian Mansfield
Brian Mansfield is an American writer and journalist. A longtime music writer and critic for USA Today, Mansfield is also the writer/producer of syndicated weekly radio program America's Opry Weekend for American radio network Dial Global Radio Networks and author and co-author of a number of books...
said, "Grammy and Dove Award nominations are attracting a second look for Heath's song about seeing life's big picture." Jesus Freak Hideout
Jesus Freak Hideout
Jesus Freak Hideout is a Christian music website. The website specializes in reviewing, previewing, and selling Christian albums. The website is known for its album reviews, independent music, artist interviews, concert dates and ministry through devotionals and prayer...
's Matthew Watson said of Heath's future music efforts: "it could be really outstanding if he sticks to more upbeat songs like 'Give Me Your Eyes'."
The song was Grammy Award-nominated in the Best Gospel Song
Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song
The Grammy Award for Best Gospel Song is an honor presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to songwriters for quality gospel songs....
category for the 51st Grammy Awards
51st Grammy Awards
The 51st Annual Grammy Awards took place at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA on February 8, 2009. Robert Plant and Alison Krauss were the biggest winners of the night, jointly winning five awards including Album of the Year and Record of the Year...
of 2009. It received two awards at the 40th GMA Dove Awards in April 2009: Song of the Year and Pop/Contemporary Song of the Year. On January 30, 2010, the song won an Emmy for the Nashville Rescue Mission: Hunger to Hope public service announcement
Public service announcement
A public service announcement or public service ad is a type of advertisement featured on television, radio, print or other media...
campaign from the Midsouth Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences
The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences or NATAS was created in 1955 to advance the arts and sciences of television. Headquartered in New York, NATAS's membership is national and the organization has local chapters around the country....
.
Music video
A music video for "Give Me Your Eyes" was filmed over the night of July 23-24, 2008 at the Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
after most flights had landed for the night. It was directed by the Erwin Brothers and premiered on the Gospel Music Channel
Gospel Music Channel
gmc is an American satellite and cable television channel, known from its 2004 launch until February 1, 2010 as Gospel Music Channel. It is also available in high-definition as a separate channel called gmcHD ....
on August 23, 2008. The video is mainly set in an airport as Brandon Heath walks among people, with interspersed shots of Heath sitting on steps and singing. The scenes of Heath sitting on stairs and in a chair were filmed in the older 1962 Birmingham Air Terminal which is adjacent to the current terminal and no longer used for passenger traffic. In the bridge of the song, a portion of the video is played backwards as he sings the lines "I want a second glance/So give me a second chance/To see the way You see the people all alone". In the last chorus, a few of the previous scenes are replayed as Heath now helps with people's individual situations. In one of the early shots, a woman steps in front of an approaching car; it is replayed as Heath intervenes and stops her from being hit by the car. The video's airport scene included about 100 extras
Extra (actor)
A background actor or extra is a performer in a film, television show, stage, musical, opera or ballet production, who appears in a nonspeaking, nonsinging or nondancing capacity, usually in the background...
.
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| R&R R&R (magazine) R&R was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes... Christian CHR Contemporary hit radio Contemporary hit radio is a radio format that is common in the United States, United Kingdom, Canada and Australia that focuses on playing current and recurrent popular music as determined by the Top 40 music charts... format |
1 |
| R&R R&R (magazine) R&R was a weekly music trade publication that followed the radio industry and tracked the monitoring of current songs by format, station and audience cumes... Christian AC format |
1 |
| Billboard Billboard (magazine) Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis... Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles The Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles is a chart published weekly by Billboard magazine in the United States. It lists the top 25 singles below number 100 that have not yet charted on the Billboard Hot 100. Sometimes, however, singles halt their progress on this chart, and never appear on the Hot 100... |
22 |
External links
- Brandon Heath's official website
- "Give Me Your Eyes" music video on YouTubeYouTubeYouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....