"Green Eyes" is a popular

Popular music

Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...

 song

Song

In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...

, originally written in Spanish

Spanish language

Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the...

 under the title "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" ("Those Green Eyes") by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menéndez. The English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 translation was made by Eddie Rivera and Eddie Woods in 1929

1929 in music

-Events:*January 1 – Pianist and composer Abram Chasins makes his professional debut playing his own piano concerto with the Philadelphia Orchestra.*January 11 – Karol Szymanowski's Stabat Mater is premiered....

.

The English version of the song was a hit for the Jimmy Dorsey

Jimmy Dorsey

James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...

 orchestra

Orchestra

An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

. The recording was made on March 19, 1941 with vocals by Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...

 and Bob Eberly

Bob Eberly

Bob Eberly was a big band vocalist, best-known for his association with Jimmy Dorsey and his duets with Helen O'Connell....

 and released by Decca Records

Decca Records

Decca Records began as a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934; however, owing to World War II, the link with the British company was broken for several decades....

 as catalog number

Catalog numbering systems for single records

This article presents the numbering systems used by various record companies for single records.- Capitol :...

 3698. The flip side was "Maria Elena

Maria Elena

"María Elena" is a 1932 popular song written by Lorenzo Barcelata . It was published by Peer International Corporation of Mexico...

." The record first reached the Billboard charts on May 9, 1941 and lasted 21 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1. Since "Maria Elena" was also a #1 hit, this was a major double-sided hit recording.

Gloria Jean

Gloria Jean

Gloria Jean is an American singer and actress who starred or co-starred in 26 feature films between 1939 and 1959. She also made radio, television, stage, and nightclub appearances.-Career:...

 sang the Spanish lyrics to "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" in the 1943 film, When Johnny Comes Marching Home

When Johnny Comes Marching Home (film)

When Johnny Comes Marching Home is a 1942 musical film starring Allan Jones and Jane Frazee. The film was directed by Charles Lamont and is loosely based on the song with the same title.-Plot:...

.

Ben Affleck

Ben Affleck

Benjamin Géza Affleck-Boldt , better known as Ben Affleck, is an American actor, film director, writer, and producer. He became known with his performances in Kevin Smith's films such as Mallrats and Chasing Amy...

 also sang the Spanish version, in the 2006 film, Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland

Hollywoodland is a 2006 American biographical docudrama film directed by Allen Coulter in his feature directorial debut. The film documents a fictional account of the investigation surrounding the death of actor George Reeves , the star of the 1950s television series Adventures of Superman. Adrien...

, in pivotal scenes just prior to the fatal shooting of his character, George Reeves

George Reeves

George Reeves was an American actor best known for his role as Superman in the 1950s television program Adventures of Superman....

.

R&B group, the Ravens, had regional success with a 1955 revival.

Allan Sherman

Allan Sherman

Allan Sherman was an American comedy writer and television producer who became famous as a song parodist in the early 1960s. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer , became the fastest-selling record album up to that time...

 recorded a version titled "Green Stamps", a parody of S&H Green Stamps

S&H Green Stamps

S&H Green Stamps were trading stamps popular in the United States from the 1930s until the late 1980s. They were distributed as part of a rewards program operated by the Sperry and Hutchinson company , founded in 1896 by Thomas Sperry and Shelly Hutchinson...

. During the recording session (according to the liner notes on the album), Sherman had a talk with the college types who hadn't heard of "Green Eyes." He said it was, like the Bossa Nova

Bossa Nova

Bossa Nova may refer to:*Bossa nova, a style of music*Bossa Nova , a dance form associated with the music*Bossa Nova , a 2000 film*Bossa Nova - album by John Pizzarelli...

, once a red-hot tune by Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell

Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...

. He asked, "Any of you remember red-hot Helen O'Connell?" (About half did.)

Recorded versions

• All-Star Orchestra
• Ray Anthony Orchestra
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• Don Barreto
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   and his orchestra
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• Jimmy Dorsey
  Jimmy Dorsey
  James "Jimmy" Dorsey was a prominent American jazz clarinetist, saxophonist, trumpeter, composer, and big band leader. He was known as "JD"...
  
   orchestra (1941
  1941 in music
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  )
• The Dorsey Brothers
  The Dorsey Brothers
  The Dorsey Brothers were a studio group fronted by musicians Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey. They started recording under their name in 1928 with a series of studio recordings for the OKeh label...
  
  
• Bob Eberly
  Bob Eberly
  Bob Eberly was a big band vocalist, best-known for his association with Jimmy Dorsey and his duets with Helen O'Connell....
  
  
• Roy Eldridge
  Roy Eldridge
  Roy David Eldridge , nicknamed "Little Jazz" was an American jazz trumpet player. His sophisticated use of harmony, including the use of tritone substitutions, his virtuosic solos and his strong influence on Dizzy Gillespie mark him as one of the most exciting musicians of the swing era and a...
  
  
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  Larry Elgart is an American jazz bandleader, who with his brother, Les, recorded the original rendition of "Bandstand Boogie", theme to the long-running teen dance show, American Bandstand.-Biography:...
  
  
• George Evans
  George Evans
  George Evans may refer to:*George Evans *George Evans, 1st Baron Carbery , Irish politician*George Evans, 4th Baron Carbery , British politician*George Evans , Australian explorer...
  
  
• Bob Florence
  Bob Florence
  Bob Florence was an American jazz arranger and pianist. He began taking piano lessons at five and initially intended to be a concert pianist. However, on taking classes with Bob McDonald he changed direction toward jazz.At the beginning of his career Florence worked as a pianist and arranger with...
  
   Big Band
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  Connie Francis is an American pop singer of Italian heritage and the top-charting female vocalist of the 1950s and 1960s. Although her chart success waned in the second half of the 1960s, Francis remained a top concert draw...
  
  
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  Jane Froman
  Jane Froman was an American singer and actress. During her thirty-year career, Froman performed on stage, radio and television despite chronic injuries that she sustained from a 1943 plane crash...
  
  
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  Earl Grant
  Earl Grant was an American easy listening pianist, Hammond organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.-Career:...
  
  
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  Benny Green
  Benny Green was a British jazz saxophonist, who was best known by the public for his radio shows and books.- Early life :...
  
  
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  Gene Krupa
  Gene Krupa was an American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
  
  
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  Abbe Lane
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  Steve Lawrence
  Steve Lawrence is an American singer and actor, perhaps best known as a member of a duo with his wife Eydie Gormé, billed as "Steve and Eydie"...
  
  
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  Enoch Henry Light was a classical violinist, bandleader, and recording engineer. As A&R chief and vice-president of Grand Award Records, he founded Command Records in 1959. Light's name was prominent on many albums both as musician and producer...
  
  
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  Enric Madriguera was a Spanish child who was playing concerts before he studied at the Barcelona Conservatory. Whilst still in his twenties he was lead violinist at Boston's and Symphony orchestras before becoming the conductor of the Cuban Philharmonic.In the 1940s he was recording Latin American...
  
  
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  Barry Manilow
  Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
  
   with Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney
  Rosemary Clooney was an American singer and actress. She came to prominence in the early 1950s with the novelty hit "Come On-a My House" written by William Saroyan and his cousin Ross Bagdasarian , which was followed by other pop numbers such as "Botch-a-Me" Rosemary Clooney (May 23, 1928 –...
  
  
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  Glenn Miller
  Alton Glenn Miller was an American jazz musician , arranger, composer, and bandleader in the swing era. He was one of the best-selling recording artists from 1939 to 1943, leading one of the best known "Big Bands"...
  
  
• Helen O'Connell
  Helen O'Connell
  Helen O'Connell was an American singer, actress, and dancer.Born in Lima, Ohio, O'Connell joined the Jimmy Dorsey band in 1939 and achieved her best selling records in the early 1940s with "Green Eyes", "Amapola," "Tangerine" and "Yours"...
  
  
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  Anita O'Day was an American jazz singer.Born Anita Belle Colton, O'Day was admired for her sense of rhythm and dynamics, and her early big band appearances shattered the traditional image of the "girl singer"...
  
  
• 101 Strings Orchestra
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  Guadalupe Pineda is a Mexican singer who has produced twenty six albums during her career covering various styles of music. She primarily sings in Spanish but has also sung in French, Italian, English and Hebrew. She has been called the “Queen of Bolero” but has also sung ballads, mariachi, tango,...
  
  
• Pony Poindexter
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• Baden Powell
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Orquesta Aragon

Lyrics

Original Spanish Lyrics

Fueron tus ojos los que me dieron,

el tema dulce de mi cancion,

Tus ojos verdes claros serenos,

Ojos que han sido mi inspiracion.

Aquellos ojos verdes

de mirada serena,

dejaron en mi alma

eterna sed de amar.

Anhelos de caricias,

de besos y ternuras.

De todas las dulzuras

que sabían brindar.

Aquellos ojos verdes,

serenos como un lago,

en cuyas quietas aguas

un día me miré.

No saben las tristezas

que en mi alma han dejado

Aquellos ojos verdes,

que yo nunca besaré.

No saben las tristezas

que en mi alma han dejado

Aquellos ojos verdes,

que yo nunca olvidaré.

Aquellos ojos verdes,

que yo nunca olvidaré.

Aquellos ojos verdes

serenos como un lago

en cuyas quietas aguas

un día me miré,

no saben las tristezas

que a mi alma le dejaron

aquellos ojos verdes

que yo nunca besaré

English Translation

Those green eyes

with their serene gaze,

they left in my soul

eternal thirst to love.

yearning for caresses,

for kisses and tenderness.

for all the sweetness

that they knew how to offer.

Those green eyes,

serene like a lake,

in whose calm waters

one day i saw myself

They do not know the sadness

that in my soul they have left

Those green eyes,

that I never will kiss.

They do not know the sadness

that in my soul they have left

Those green eyes,

that I never will forget.

Those green eyes,

that I never will forget.

Those green eyes,

serene like a lake,

in whose calm waters

one day i saw myself

They do not know the sadness

that in my soul they have left

those green eyes

that I never will kiss

English lyrics

The version written for English audiences varies from the Spanish. The Big Band version typically had a male voice singing these words, followed by a female voice singing the same words, with the exception of the last line. This is one version:

Well, Green Eyes with their soft lights

Your eyes that promise sweet nights,

Bring to my soul a longing, a thirst for love divine

In dreams I seem to hold you, to find you and enfold you

Our lips meet and our hearts, too, with a thrill so sublime

Those cool and limpid Green Eyes

A pool wherein my love lies

So deep that in my searching for happiness

I fear that they will ever haunt me

All through my life they'll taunt me

But will they ever want me?

(Male voice)

Green Eyes, make my dreams come true.

(Female voice)

Green Eyes, I love you.