"A Pair of Brown Eyes" is a single by The Pogues, released on 18 March 1985.[1] The single was their first to make the UK Top 100, peaking at Number 72.[2] It featured on the band's second album, Rum Sodomy & the Lash, and was composed by Pogues front man Shane MacGowan. Its melody is loosely based on that of “Wild Mountain Thyme" (also known as "Will Ye Go Lassie Go"), a song by Francis McPeake in a traditional folk style.
| "A Pair of Brown Eyes" | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single by The Pogues | ||||
| from the album Rum Sodomy & the Lash | ||||
| B-side | "Whiskey You're the Devil" | |||
| Released | 18 March 1985 | |||
| Genre | Celtic rock | |||
| Length | 4:54 | |||
| Label | Stiff | |||
| Songwriter(s) | Shane MacGowan | |||
| Producer(s) | Elvis Costello | |||
| The Pogues singles chronology | ||||
| ||||
The song references the Johnny Cash version of the song "A Thing Called Love": "And on the jukebox Johnny sang / About a thing called love". It also references Irish country music singers Ray Lynam and Philomena Begley's version of "My Elusive Dreams": "While Ray and Philomena sang / Of my elusive dream".
Music video edit
The music video for the single was directed in 1985 by Alex Cox and was set in a Nineteen Eighty-Four-esque Britain with Margaret Thatcher in the place of Big Brother as a supreme, god-like authoritarian figure. The video featured roles played by band members as well as a cameo by the record's producer Elvis Costello.
Critical reception edit
The song was ranked number 9 among the "Tracks of the Year" for 1985 by NME.[3]
References edit
- ^ "Record News". Melody Maker. London, England: IPC Media: 4. 16 March 1985.
- ^ Pogues UK chart history
- ^ "Albums and Tracks of the Year". NME. 2018. Retrieved 8 September 2018.
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