Sad Eyes

The song Sad Eyes was written by Bruce Springsteen. It was included on the Tracks box set, which was released in 1998. It’s a cute song, with a nice melancholy melody and Bruce Springsteen singing falsetto but with serious lyrics about relationships.

The woman in the song Sad Eyes is unhappy but she is afraid to admit it. The protagonist is in love with her and can see the sadness in her eyes. He is patiently waiting for her to realise her situation.

Well for a while I’ve been watching you steady, ain’t gonna move ’til you’re good and ready.
You show up and then you shy away, but I know pretty soon you’ll be walkin’ this way

She seems to be hesitant to engage in a new relationship (she has either recently been hurt or she is still in a relationship) so she shies away. She doubts herself and she is not convinced if she is worthy of his love or not. He is pretty confident she’ll leave that other life (guy) and reassures her that no matter what, he will be there for her.

The ending of the song is ambiguous. In the last stanza she seems to let go of the control but I can’t figure out if she is going to him or if she is meeting someone else. He seems a bit annoyed, like he doesn’t want to be taken for granted.

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The song has been performed by other artists including Enrique Iglesias, and here comes the most remarkable part of this post:

Iglesias’ interpretation of the song is exceptionally different to Springsteen’s. A music video was shot, but it was shelved at the time due to its sexual content. It shows Iglesias alone in a motel room indulging erotic fantasies about a girl he sees in a phone-sex ad.

In 2009, the video was uploaded to director LaChappelle’s website but was rapidly removed at the request of Universal Music. It has since found its way to various video-sharing sites – see youtube video below (viewer discretion is advised 🙈)