"Behind These Hazel Eyes" is a song by American singer Kelly Clarkson for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). It was written by Clarkson with the song's producers Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The song was released on April 12, 2005, as the second single from the album. Clarkson considered "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of her favorite songs, and she once intended to name Breakaway after the song. "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is an uptempo song that incorporates crunchy guitars pulsated with driving beats and anthemic choruses; it narrates Clarkson's broken relationship with her ex-boyfriend.
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed inside the top 10 in the chart for 15 weeks, a record for the longest time spent in the top 10 for a song that did not hit top five, until it was beaten by Rihanna's "Needed Me" in 2016. It also became Clarkson's first song to top the Adult Pop Songs chart. It was certified platinum from Recording Industry Association of America for selling over one million digital downloads. Elsewhere, the song charted in the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom.
The song's accompanying music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Danyi Deats-Barrett. The concept of the video was conceived by Clarkson and depicts her as a bride who experiences some dream-like hints that her fiancé is having an affair with a brunette ceremony attendee. The music video premiered online at MTV, and it also received heavy rotation on Total Request Live. The song was performed live by Clarkson at numerous venues, including the Breakaway World Tour (2005) and the All I Ever Wanted Tour (2009).
Background and writing In 2004, Kelly Clarkson flew to Sweden to collaborate with Max Martin and Lukasz "Dr. Luke" Gottwald for her album, Breakaway. Clarkson and Martin were interested in turning in a more rock direction, as opposed to the "slick pop" with which they were identified. The songs "Since U Been Gone", as well as "Behind These Hazel Eyes", were the products of their collaboration. According to Dr. Luke, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was sent to Clarkson without any lyrics as part of an olive branch to the singer. He explained, We had just done with "Since U Been Gone," which everyone was happy with. We sent a rough version of "Behind These Hazel Eyes," without any lyrics, to Kelly and Clive Davis. It was in part an olive branch to Kelly, because there was miscommunication on "Since U Been Gone," where Kelly had written some lyrics and Max and I didn't know about it and we had finished the song. So we wanted to write "Behind" with her from the beginning, but we were in different places. She had just won American Idol and was on tour, so she'd e-mail me lyrics, and I'd e-mail her my thoughts. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Clarkson explained that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is "about the dipstick who completely screwed up and now is unhappy and you're happy." She also considered the song as one of her favorites that she once intended to name Breakaway after the song. Critics speculated that the song reflects Clarkson's break-up with David Hodges, an ex-member of Evanescence. According to MTV, the song was originally written prior to the break-up. Nonetheless, Clarkson decided to tweak the song lyrics after breaking up with Hodges to express her emotional pain. Clarkson also said that the song almost did not make it into the album. She explained, "It had different lyrics in the beginning [...] I ended up calling Luke [Lukasz Gottwald], the writer, and we did a totally different song to it. It's now my favorite song on the record. Crappy relationships [make for] a good song."
Composition
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" is a pop rock power ballad that was written by Clarkson, Max Martin, and Dr. Luke and produced by the latter two. Sheet music for the song shows common time with a moderate tempo of 90 beats per minute, in the key of A major, with the vocal range spanning over two octaves from E3 to F5. The bridge was the only part of the song that was written by Dr. Luke and Martin together with Clarkson face to face. The song begins with Clarkson wailing "oh oh oh" over a restless percussion. In the first verse, the music becomes quiet to focus on Clarkson's vocals, as she wails, "Seems like just yesterday/You were a part of me/I used to stand so tall/I used to be so strong/Your arms around me tight/Everything it felt so right/Unbreakable like nothing could go wrong." During the chorus, the sound of electronic guitar is dominant as she vocalizes, "Here I am/Once again/I'm torn into pieces/Can't deny it/Can't pretend/Just thought you were the one/Broken up deep inside/But you won't get to see the tears I cry/Behind these hazel eyes." Gil Kaufman of MTV noticed that the song "soared on crunchy guitars, driving beats, and anthemic, agitated choruses."
Lyrically, the song narrates the story of a failed relationship that initially started off well. Clarkson regrets having allowed herself to be vulnerable to her ex-boyfriend, and she is determined that despite the pain that she feels, he will not get the satisfaction of seeing her cry. Michael Paoletta of Billboard praised Clarkson's vocals, writing, "Clarkson simply delivers a loose, tour-de-force vocal that simmers alongside a steroid-charged musical backdrop that is fun, fast, and furious." Scott Juba of The Trade praised the production of the song, writing, "The song's strong hook pulls listeners in and involves them in the lyrics without ever becoming gimmicky or manipulative." He also complimented Clarkson's vocal performance, which "oscillates between pain and defiance with near pinpoint accuracy."
Reception and accolades
Elizabeth Scott of Sky Living wrote, "while Clarkson is doing well musically, her love life still hasn't picked up and she is heartbroken once again. I'm sure the thought of another top-10 hit might cheer her up!" Scott Juba of The Trades considered "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as the highlight of the album, writing, "Now that [Clarkson is] a few years older than she was when she recorded her first album, she brings more authenticity to relationship songs." Evan Sawdey of PopMatters compared "Don't Let Me Stop You" (2009) with "Behind These Hazel Eyes", saying that the former "may sound like another rewrite of an older Clarkson hit (in this case, "Behind These Hazel Eyes"), but the observational lyrics about a questionable relationship are what ultimately makes the whole thing click." Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine felt that the song should sell records more because "the entire musical backing drops out to let Clarkson's voice through to live or die on its own."
Pam Avoledo of Blogcritics believed that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was superior to the writing of "Since U Been Gone", commenting, "It's punchier, well-written, and gives Clarkson a chance to show off her vocal skills without the trendy haughtiness." Joe Cross of Cox Communications thought that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was a decent follow-up to "Since U Been Gone", saying "It's no "Since U Been Gone", which is just a pop-rock juggernaut, but as follow-ups go, it's not too shabby. Clarkson's down-home everything (well, mostly her looks) sells these little heartbreak haikus exceptionally well." He also listed "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of the 40 songs that defined the summer of 2005. The same sentiment was echoed by Robert Copsey of Digital Spy, who considered the song as Clarkson's second-best single after "Since U Been Gone", writing, "It proved a slow burner at the time of release, but this track's greatness continues to be realised over time."
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" was listed at number five on Billboard magazine's list of Songs of the Summer of 2005. In 2015, the same publication ranked the song at number four on its list of Top 100 American Idol Hits of All Time. It also appeared at number three on the list of Kelly Clarkson's Top 15 Biggest Billboard Hot 100 Hits. Chris Kal of WKNS ranked "Behind These Hazel Eyes" at number four in his list of "Top 10 Summer Songs From 2005". Sam Lansky of PopCrush described the song as "a surefire fan favorite" and ranked it at number nine in his list of "Top 10 Kelly Clarkson songs". Bill Lamb of About.com put the song at number 62 on his list of "Top 100 Pop Songs of 2005". The song was nominated in the category for Song of the Year: Mainstream Hit Radio in the 2005 Radio Music Awards. At the 24th ASCAP Pop Music Awards, the song was honored with the Most Performed Songs award. In January 2010, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was the fifth-most-played song of the last decade by American Idol performers. According to Nielsen Broadcast Data Systems, the song has been played 513,149 times through the week ending March 24, 2010.
Chart performance "Behind These Hazel Eyes" debuted at number 87 on the Billboard Hot 100 on the week ending, April 23, 2005. The song stayed inside the top 10 on Billboard Hot 100 for 15 weeks before peaking at number six on the week ending June 11, 2005. It consequently held the record as the song with the most weeks in the chart's top 10 without hitting the top five, before being surpassed by Rihanna's "Needed Me", which spent 16 weeks in the top 10, but only peaked at number seven 11 years later in 2016.
On the week ending May 28, 2005, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" jumped from number seven to number three on the Billboard Pop 100 Airplay chart. With "Since U Been Gone" holding steady at number two, the ascent made Clarkson the first artist with two songs in the top three of the chart. The song also appeared on the US Pop Songs at number 30 on the week ending April 30, 2005, and peaked at number two on the week ending July 9, 2005. It spent seven consecutive weeks at number two and was held off the top spot by Mariah Carey's "We Belong Together". It became the 16th-ranked single of the 2000s decade on the Pop Songs chart compiled by Billboard. On the Billboards Radio Songs, the song peaked at number four on August 6, 2005. On the week ending August 27, 2005, the song topped the Adult Top 40 and stayed in the position for five consecutive weeks. On January 31, 2008, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America. The song has sold 1,644,000 digital copies in the United States as of September 2017.
Internationally, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was a commercial success. In Australia, the song debuted and peaked at number six on the week ending July 3, 2005. In New Zealand, the song entered New Zealand Singles Chart and peaked at number seven on the week ending July 4, 2005, as the highest debut of the week. In the United Kingdom, the song also debuted and peaked at number nine on the week ending October 1, 2005. In Ireland, the song debuted at number nine on the week ending September 22, 2005, and peaked at number four on the week ending November 3, 2005.
Music video
Background and release