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The Penguin Discography: Eyes Of The World




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    Song Title »
Eyes Of The World
    Authors »
Lindsey Buckingham

    Year Written »
1982

    This Performance »
Date Performance 1982-00-00
Running Time 3:44
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Mick Fleetwood (Percussion), John McVie (Bass), Lindsey Buckingham (Guitars), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Lindsey Buckingham (Additional Keyboards), Christine McVie (Keyboards), Christine McVie (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Richard Dashut (Produced By), Ken Caillat (Produced By), Fleetwood Mac (Produced By), Lindsey Buckingham (Produced By), Mick Fleetwood (Produced By), John McVie (Produced By), Christine McVie (Produced By), Stevie Nicks (Produced By)
Appears On
25 Years: The Chain (1992)
Fleetwood Mac
Mirage (1982)
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac: Mirage (0000)
Warner Brothers Publications Inc.
Hold Me/Eyes Of The World (0000)
Fleetwood Mac

    Lyrics »

Tellin' you people, tell you no lie
My heart was breakin', I'll tell you why
Back and forth lies unfurl
In the eyes, in the eyes, in the eyes of the world

(Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes)

Monday's children are filled with face
Tuesday's children are filled with grace
Back and forth lies unfurl
In the eyes, in the eyes, in the eyes of the world

(Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes)

    Fan Interpretation »

Contributors to this interpretation included: Alexa, Shadow, Rhiannon, Barbara II, Ocean, Les, Becky, Regina, and Villavic.

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Eyes Of The World appears on Mirage, the second album after the mega hit Rumours. Mirage was made to get back into the Rumours format. This meant having songs that where fan "friendly". These were songs that were written to once again boost album sales like those of Rumours. The album that did follow Rumours, Tusk, did not follow this format. Tusk was more of an experimental album. Although it was not a failure by any means, selling quite well considering it was a double album, it was just not what the fans expected. Much of this was due to Lindsey's desire to create an album that was not quite like any other. It was Lindsey who took much of the blame for the disappointing sales and reactions to Tusk since he was the main creative force behind it.

Lindsey was also a bit fed up with the public's fascination with the private lives of the band members. He has often stated that the success of Rumours had more to do with the relationships within the band than the music itself. These two points in Lindsey's life are what leads up to his song Eyes Of The World.

Tellin' you people, tell you no lie
My heart was breakin', I'll tell you why
Back and forth lies unfurl
In the eyes, in the eyes, in the eyes of the world
Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes

Here Lindsey is telling the fans and even the other members of Fleetwood Mac that he is very unhappy. Everything that has been going on from the famous break ups within the band to the disappointment over Tusk has hurt him a great deal. But what makes it the worst is that all of this has not been kept private, but has unfolded before the "eyes of the world." This constant attention was something that made it even harder for Lindsey to continue in a band where relationships were already strained.

Monday's children are filled with face
Tuesday's children are filled with grace
Back and forth lies unfurl
In the eyes, in the eyes, in the eyes, of the world
Eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes, eyes

The first two lines of this verse follows an old nursery rhyme which begins, "Monday's child is fair of face, Tuesday's child is full of grace." Instead of following the nursery rhyme and saying "fair of face," which expresses outward beauty, he says "full of face" which takes on a whole new meaning. Someone who is full of face is a person who only thinks about themselves while ignoring the feelings of others. It is not quite clear as to whom Lindsey is referring to as "Monday's child." It could be Stevie, Mick, or even the fans. Lindsey and Stevie still had a lot of tension between them and it didn't help matters any when Mick and Stevie had an affair. It also seemed that Mick would appear to support Tusk and the importance of the album to the press. Privately, though, he had very different and hurtful things to say to Lindsey about the project and the creativity behind the album. This triggered a lot of confusion, distrust, and anger towards Mick and the other members. And of course there is the fans. Lindsey's disappointment in their unwillingness to accept something different in Tusk so quickly after Rumours was quite a blow also. Either way the person or people that Lindsey is referring to as "Monday's child" were people he once trusted and had a great deal of faith in. He was let down in a way that he was never fully able to recover from while in Fleetwood Mac.

"Tuesday's child is full of grace" is a 180 degree turn around from Monday's child. Lindsey sees how quickly people change. They can change as quickly as the days of the week pass by. One day Lindsey and Stevie love each other, the next they can't stand to be in the same room together. One day Mick supports Tusk, the next he is blaming Lindsey for its failure. One day the fans are going crazy over their album, the next they are disappointed in a new album. Of course these things happened over years not days but to Lindsey it might well have been. Lindsey saw how everybody around him was changing into people he no longer recognized. Most importantly, he realized that things were not changing for the better.

Not only does this song carry a powerful message within a few simple verses, but the musical composition also carries a message. It begins as if it is another song that fits everybody's expectations...very controlled and radio friendly. But when Lindsey's voice comes in with an angry burst, the listener can't help but pay attention to this song and try to understand what it is really about. Once again, Lindsey's use of instrumental composition and vocal arrangement are absolute genius.

Eyes Of The World chronicles a part of Lindsey's life. He has lived through the heartbreaks, the disappointments and frustrations, and the lies, all of which unfurled before the eyes of the world. Lindsey often states how everything goes in cycles. There are always going to be good times and bad times. Eyes Of The World was a song that was written about the bad times. Thankfully, the cycle continued on and the good times were found once again in Fleetwood Mac and most importantly in Lindsey's life.

(The interpretations to these lyrics were compiled through discussions on the message boards of the Penguin, The Ledge. It is entirely possible that the artists had something completely different in mind.)

    Tabs »
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    Other Performances »
Performance #1:
Date Performance 1982-10-22
Running Time 3:41
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Christine McVie (Keyboards), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Tambourine), Christine McVie (Tambourine), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals)
CommentsRecorded at the Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles
Appears On
In Concert Mirage Tour '82 (1984)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #2:
Running Time 3:28
Sound Clip Listen.
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Vocals), Jana Anderson (Background Vocals), Sharon Celani (Background Vocals), Neale Heywood (Guitar), Taku(ya) Hirano (Percussion), Steve Rinkoff/Rinkov (Drums), Carlos Rios (Guitar), Brett Tuggle (Keyboards), Mike Dean (Keyboard), Mark Needham (Music Mixed By)
Appears On
Live In Boston (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Live In Boston (2004)
Fleetwood Mac
Performance #3:
Date Performance 1982-10-22
Running Time 3:41
Performers Lindsey Buckingham (Guitar), Mick Fleetwood (Drums), Christine McVie (Keyboards), John McVie (Bass), Stevie Nicks (Tambourine), Christine McVie (Tambourine), Lindsey Buckingham (Vocals), Christine McVie (Vocals), Stevie Nicks (Vocals)
CommentsRecorded at the Inglewood Forum, Los Angeles
Appears On
Westwood One Radio Networks Show: 6/16/84 (1984)
Fleetwood Mac

    Comments »

(C) 1982 Fleetwood Mac Music (BMI)/Now Sounds Music (ASCAP/BMI) All Rights Reserved. Used by Permission.

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    Last Modified »
2008-05-12

    Discography Credits »
Interpretation prepared by Alexa.