Open Your Eyes (Snow Patrol song)
Encyclopedia
"Open Your Eyes" is a song by the alternative rock
band Snow Patrol
It has been released as the fifth single in total from the 2006 album Eyes Open
. The song was released on 12 February 2007.
by director Claude Lelouch. It marked the first time Lelouch granted permission to anyone to use footage from the movie. Q
chose it as their Video of the Week on 6 February 2007.
Football Focus
. The song gained more popularity after being featured during the emotional season twelve finale of ER
. Sales of the song on iTunes
rose as the song was later featured in a third season episode of The 4400
, an episode of Grey's Anatomy
s third season, the pilot
episode of The Black Donnellys
, season 4 episode 21 of Brothers and Sisters, and the second season finale of Being Erica.
It was also used in the 2008 THON
video entitled "Don't Waste One Minute" and is heard in the trailer for the 2008 MTV film Stop-Loss
, released in March and in a promo for season two of Gossip Girl
. The song is the soundtrack to the series "best bits" for Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK)
. and was used as theme for the Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
, and was played at many rallies. The song is used as the background music to the advert for the BBC
High Definition service and is heavily used in the BBC series The Real Swiss Family Robinson, where privileged families are sent to desert islands to try and survive for three weeks. The song is also used in mini movies about children living in Africa
with Cataract
s in their eyes, the movie was made for Comic Relief
.
It was also featured in the film The Invisible.
Australian CD
CD Promo
12" Promo
Unofficial releases
's Adam Webb had mixed reviews for the single. He rated it five stars out of ten and criticized them for "making the same record over and over again", though he stated "Set the Fire to the Third Bar
" an exception. He called the song "a return to the formula of "Run", "Chasing Cars" and so on and so forth." He criticized the song further by saying that it sounded like "five young men caught in the headlights as Gary Lightbody sings about aching bones and cold skin over a clipped guitar riff, before everything explodes in an orgy of significance and straight-laced posturing. By the end, the boys in the band are furiously hammering away, heads down, no nonsense, wham bam thank you mam."
The Irish Times
columnist Brian Boyd derided Snow Patrol as "life-support machine music" due to the overuse of their songs on medical dramas such as Grey's Anatomy
. Q called the single "genuinely good".
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol
Snow Patrol are an alternative rock band from Bangor, County Down, Northern Ireland. Formed at the University of Dundee in 1994 as an indie rock band, the band is now based in Glasgow...
It has been released as the fifth single in total from the 2006 album Eyes Open
Eyes Open
Eyes Open is the fourth album by Northern Irish/Scottish alternative rock band Snow Patrol. It was released in the UK on 1 May 2006, and 9 May 2006 in the US. The first European single, "You're All I Have", was released on 24 April 2006; the first U.S. single was "Hands Open" and the first...
. The song was released on 12 February 2007.
Music video
The song's music video is actual footage from the classic cult film C'était un rendez-vousC'était un rendez-vous
C'était un Rendezvous is a short film made in 1976 by Claude Lelouch, showing a high speed drive through Paris.-Exposition:...
by director Claude Lelouch. It marked the first time Lelouch granted permission to anyone to use footage from the movie. Q
Q (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
chose it as their Video of the Week on 6 February 2007.
In popular culture
The song is used as the theme music to BBC One'sBBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
Football Focus
Football Focus
Football Focus is a BBC television show, broadcast on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes, covering football, presented from the 2009/2010 season by Dan Walker...
. The song gained more popularity after being featured during the emotional season twelve finale of ER
ER (TV series)
ER is an American medical drama television series created by novelist Michael Crichton that aired on NBC from September 19, 1994 to April 2, 2009. It was produced by Constant c Productions and Amblin Entertainment, in association with Warner Bros. Television...
. Sales of the song on iTunes
ITunes
iTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
rose as the song was later featured in a third season episode of The 4400
The 4400
The 4400 is a science fiction TV series produced by CBS Paramount Network Television in association with Sky Television, Renegade 83, and American Zoetrope for USA Network. The show was created and written by Scott Peters and René Echevarria, and it stars Joel Gretsch and Jacqueline McKenzie...
, an episode of Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
s third season, the pilot
Television pilot
A "television pilot" is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell the show to a television network. At the time of its inception, the pilot is meant to be the "testing ground" to see if a series will be possibly desired and successful and therefore a test episode of an...
episode of The Black Donnellys
The Black Donnellys
The Black Donnellys is an American television drama that debuted on NBC on February 26, 2007 and last aired on April 2, 2007. Thereafter, NBC began releasing new episodes weekly on until the series was officially canceled. The Black Donnellys was created by Paul Haggis and Robert Moresco...
, season 4 episode 21 of Brothers and Sisters, and the second season finale of Being Erica.
It was also used in the 2008 THON
Penn State Dance Marathon
The Penn State IFC/Panhellenic Dance Marathon, commonly referred to as THON, is a two day Dance Marathon that takes place every February at the Pennsylvania State University with the purpose of raising money to combat pediatric cancer...
video entitled "Don't Waste One Minute" and is heard in the trailer for the 2008 MTV film Stop-Loss
Stop-Loss (film)
Stop-Loss is a 2008 American drama film directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It was distributed by Paramount Pictures and produced by MTV Films.-Plot:...
, released in March and in a promo for season two of Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl
Gossip Girl is an American young adult novel series written by Cecily von Ziegesar and published by Little, Brown and Company, a subsidiary of the Hachette Group. The series revolves around the lives and romances of the privileged teenagers at the Constance Billard School for Girls, an elite...
. The song is the soundtrack to the series "best bits" for Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2007 (UK)
Celebrity Big Brother 2007 was the highly controversial fifth series of the United Kingdom reality television series Celebrity Big Brother, a spin-off of Big Brother. The series was broadcast on Channel 4 in the UK , and involved a number of celebrities referred to as 'housemates', who live in the...
. and was used as theme for the Barack Obama's 2008 presidential campaign
Barack Obama presidential campaign, 2008
Barack Obama, then junior United States Senator from Illinois, announced his candidacy for the presidency of the United States in Springfield, Illinois, on February 10, 2007. On August 27, 2008, he was declared nominee of the Democratic Party for the 2008 presidential election...
, and was played at many rallies. The song is used as the background music to the advert for the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
High Definition service and is heavily used in the BBC series The Real Swiss Family Robinson, where privileged families are sent to desert islands to try and survive for three weeks. The song is also used in mini movies about children living in Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
with Cataract
Cataract
A cataract is a clouding that develops in the crystalline lens of the eye or in its envelope, varying in degree from slight to complete opacity and obstructing the passage of light...
s in their eyes, the movie was made for Comic Relief
Comic Relief
Comic Relief is an operating British charity, founded in 1985 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Lenny Henry in response to famine in Ethiopia. The highlight of Comic Relief's appeal is Red Nose Day, a biennial telethon held in March, alternating with sister project Sport Relief...
.
It was also featured in the film The Invisible.
Track listing
UK CD/7"/Digital Download- "Open Your Eyes" – 5:41
- "I Am an Astronaut" – 2:42
- "I Am an Astronaut" was previously featured on the Save the ChildrenSave the ChildrenSave the Children is an internationally active non-governmental organization that enforces children's rights, provides relief and helps support children in developing countries...
compilation album Colours Are BrighterColours Are BrighterColours Are Brighter is a charity record which was released on Rough Trade Records on 16 October 2006, all proceeds going to Save the Children...
.
Australian CD
- "Open Your Eyes" – 5:41
- "I Am an Astronaut" – 2:42
- "You're All I Have" (Live in Hamburg) – 4:42
- "Open Your Eyes" (music video)
- "Shut Your Eyes" (music video)
CD Promo
- "Open Your Eyes" (Radio edit) – 3:56
- "Open Your Eyes" (Album version) – 5:41
12" Promo
- "Open Your Eyes" (Allende Remix) – 7:29
- "Chasing Cars" (Topher Jones & Blake Jarrell Remix) – 7:35
Unofficial releases
- "Open Your Eyes" (Marky and Bungle Remix) – 5:43
- "Open Your Eyes" (Tiësto Remix) (Private/Unreleased mix. A 4:33 sample ripped from Club Life is out there)
- "Open Your Eyes" (Redanka Mix) – 8:08
- "Open Your Eyes" (Walker Remix) – 6:26
Reception
Yahoo! MusicYahoo! Music
Yahoo! Music, owned by Yahoo!, is the provider of a variety of music services, including Internet radio, music videos, news, artist information, and original programming...
's Adam Webb had mixed reviews for the single. He rated it five stars out of ten and criticized them for "making the same record over and over again", though he stated "Set the Fire to the Third Bar
Set the Fire to the Third Bar
"Set the Fire to the Third Bar" is a song from Snow Patrol's fourth album, Eyes Open, featuring Martha Wainwright on vocals. The song was released as a single on the 13 November 2006.- Background :...
" an exception. He called the song "a return to the formula of "Run", "Chasing Cars" and so on and so forth." He criticized the song further by saying that it sounded like "five young men caught in the headlights as Gary Lightbody sings about aching bones and cold skin over a clipped guitar riff, before everything explodes in an orgy of significance and straight-laced posturing. By the end, the boys in the band are furiously hammering away, heads down, no nonsense, wham bam thank you mam."
The Irish Times
The Irish Times
The Irish Times is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Kevin O'Sullivan who succeeded Geraldine Kennedy in 2011; the deputy editor is Paul O'Neill. The Irish Times is considered to be Ireland's newspaper of record, and is published every day except Sundays...
columnist Brian Boyd derided Snow Patrol as "life-support machine music" due to the overuse of their songs on medical dramas such as Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy
Grey's Anatomy is an American medical drama television series created by Shonda Rhimes. The series premiered on March 27, 2005 on ABC; since then, seven seasons have aired. The series follows the lives of interns, residents and their mentors in the fictional Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital in...
. Q called the single "genuinely good".
Charts
| Chart (2008) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Australian ARIA Singles Chart ARIA Charts The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June... |
53 |
| Germany Singles Top 100 | 73 |
| Ireland Singles Top 50 | 21 |
| UK Singles Chart | 26 |