Dave's Music #114 Eyes (volume 1)

My favorite subject and even one that came up in conversation with Vivian Leva & Riley Calcagno over the weekend at breakfast.  My wife looked at them and said, "I'm just imagining what color eyes your child will have."  Yikes she loves babies and Vivian is NOT pregnant as far as we know, though if it was conceived in our basement, we cannot hear anything upstairs... 

Now is this the banter you come to expect from Dave's Basement Tracks?  Ha, well it is the music I own and my conversations of life.  Eyes are a huge favorite subject and when I decided that I never covered my favorite subject in a playlist, I searched my digital library to find over 120 songs without standards like "Blue Eyes Crying in the Rain"  and "Brown Eyed Girl" for some reason.  Yes I can only imagine what other songs I have in my vinyl collection, so truly this is Volume One and really chosen to give an eclectic mix to listen to and not a top ten.

1) Angel Eyes - John Hiatt

 While John has songs in Bandcamp, not this one so I'll share the audio track that I'm listening to:

2) Crayola Doesn't Make Color for Your Eyes - Kristin Andreassen

If this doesn't make you smile, get yourself checked.  Funny back to the story at breakfast, Riley's eyes fit this song because we all couldn't decide what color his eyes were.

Ok if the digital song doesn't make you smile, try this tremendously cute video.  Convinced right, go buy the song and contribute to Kristin making a living.

3) Emily's Eyes - Steve Yanek

Of course there needs to be a good old fashioned love song... and this song has to be older than the 2015 as posted in the YouTube audio file because I added it to the library back in 2013.

4) Eyes - Siri Undlin (Humbird)

Back in 2013 Siri hadn't branded herself as Humbird, and here is a delicate piece discussing that what pulls two lovers together... many times it's just looking into their eyes.  Remember I make these playlists for me as much as you to enjoy.  I just don't spend enough time with this release.

5) Girl with Green Eyes - Luke Callen

Aren't too many times I can follow a couple who are significant others back to back.  2019 this was released and I'm going to stay it wasn't written about Siri because it's more a haunting folk ballad.  Since Luke added lyrics to his Bandcamp song, I'm sharing for you to read along.  Alex Meine who played fiddle is a great talent that I've met a few times.

As the day began breaking the night forsaken
my lover she leaves through the window she came
Dressed in red warm winter flannel
My lips still sit the sound of her name

She came to me dancing a night left to passion
A fiddle it played our movements in time
Her hair spun gently the winds of the twilight
The dark was descending we paid no mind

The breath she was breathing heaving with the season
So we left the city for the rivers at dawn
Our skin touched gently the sands of the shoreline
Her skin turned rough her green eyes were gone

With the river flowing she turned to the ocean
Her hands gripped the stars covered their light
The tears from her laughter grew trees to surround me
I choked on their branches heavy with sight

so she leaves in the morning no word of her warning
I’m left with the forest her heart in my hand
It’s black as the stallion that rides into midnight
I weep for the woman the ground where she stands

6) Isaac Woodard's Eyes - Angela Easterling

I am a sucker for a great song written about a historical event:

In 1946, Isaac Woodard, a decorated WWII veteran, still in uniform, was headed home to his family at the end of his service to our country. After a disagreement with the bus driver over Woodard's request to use the bathroom, the police showed up at the bus stop in Batesburg, SC, and beat him mercilessly, blinding him permanently. Although an SC native, I had never heard of this shameful bit of our history until 2014. It touched and angered me so much, I just had to try to write something about it.

lyrics

7) Blue-Eyed Boston Boy - Mark Erelli

This 2002 release typifies this blog's theme, good music has no expiration date it just sits on a cd, in a digital library waiting to be discovered bought and enjoyed as fresh as it was back in 2002.

I'm going to give away the sad ending, but it's worth listening to:

But among the dead at the top of the hill
Was the boy with the golden hair
And the tall dark man that rode by his side
Lay still beside him there
There was no one to write to his blue eyed girl
The words that her lover had said
And mother at home is awaiting her son
She'll only find he's dead

While mother at home is awaiting her son
She'll only find he's dead

credits

8) Blue Eyes - Lauren Pratt

I do love the line, "don't let me keep a spare key".. pretty desperate love and one knowing it should end.  I also love the fact that I found this release is someone else's Bandcamp collection and decided to buy it.

9) Red Eyes - John R Miller

This song was not in my original playlist of ten songs and when I posted it to Facebook as an upcoming playlist Kristy Collins Rylander commented that two of her favorite eye songs with this one and the next song.  I found them on Bandcamp and it was hard to disagree to I bought them.  Really hard not to fall in love with the groove and sound of this song before you listen to the lyrics.

10) Eyes Like Glass - 49 Winchester

This one pulls at my old Southern Rock heartstrings... don't get used to people disappearing.

Thanks again... Kristy

11) Wash My Eyes - Greg Brown

Here's another Viv & Riley conversation connection; sometime during the conversation of music we found that they had never heard Greg Brown.  Dang makes me want to buy his library and start marketing it; I'd make a killing off of it.  Here's a hymn for all of us.

12) Your Sweet and Shiny Eyes - Bonnie Raitt

I was curious if anyone else would recognize this song as one of the top ten songs of Bonnie's and wow this guy didn't at all, makes me tempted to do a blog post just on Bonnie.  It's on her Home Plate album but here she is live.  On the studio recording the backup singers include Tom Waits & Jackson Browne.

Sorry I didn't do a one click YouTube playlist for this post... maybe next time, listen and buy some of them in Bandcamp and make me happy.