"Pale Blue Eyes" is a song written and sung by

Lou Reed Lewis Allan Reed (March 2, 1942October 27, 2013) was an American musician, songwriter, and poet. He was the guitarist, singer, and principal songwriter for the rock band the Velvet Underground and had a solo career that spanned five decades ...

and performed by

The Velvet Underground The Velvet Underground was an American rock band formed in New York City in 1964. The original line-up consisted of singer/guitarist Lou Reed, multi-instrumentalist John Cale, guitarist Sterling Morrison, and drummer Angus MacLise. MacLise ...

. He recorded a demo with

John Cale John Davies Cale (born 9 March 1942) is a Welsh musician, composer, singer, songwriter and record producer who was a founding member of the American rock band the Velvet Underground. Over his six-decade career, Cale has worked in various sty ...

in May 1965. It was included on the band's 1969 album ''

''. Despite the name, "Pale Blue Eyes" was written about someone whose eyes were hazel, as Reed notes in his book ''Between Thought and Expression''. The song is said to have been inspired by Shelley Albin, Reed's first love, who at the time was married to another man.

Personnel

–

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...

electric guitar An electric guitar is a guitar that requires external amplification in order to be heard at typical performance volumes, unlike a standard acoustic guitar (however combinations of the two - a semi-acoustic guitar and an electric acoustic gu ...

* Doug Yule – bass,

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated ...

backing vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are ...

* Sterling Morrison – electric guitar, backing vocals *

Maureen Tucker Maureen Ann "Moe" Tucker (born August 26, 1944) is an American musician and singer-songwriter who was the drummer for the New York City-based rock band the Velvet Underground. After they disbanded in the early 1970s, she left the music industr ...

–

tambourine The tambourine is a musical instrument in the percussion family consisting of a frame, often of wood or plastic, with pairs of small metal jingles, called " zills". Classically the term tambourine denotes an instrument with a drumhead, tho ...

Notable cover versions

"Pale Blue Eyes" has been covered by a number of artists in addition to

and

from Velvet Underground: *

Patti Smith Patricia Lee Smith (born December 30, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, poet, painter and author who became an influential component of the New York City punk rock movement with her 1975 debut album ''Horses''. Called the "punk poet ...

performed the song live in the mid- to late-1970s * Edwyn Collins recorded the song with Paul Quinn and released it as a single in 1984. * R.E.M. covered the song for the B-side of the single of " So. Central Rain", released in 1984 and collected on their 1987 album '' Dead Letter Office''. *

Marisa Monte Marisa de Azevedo Monte (Brazilian Portuguese: /maˈɾizɐ dʒi azeˈvedu ˈmõtʃi/) (born 1 July 1967) is a Brazilian singer, composer, instrumentalist, and producer of Brazilian popular music and samba. As of 2011, she had sold 10 million ...

has a cover of the song on her 1994 album '' Verde, Anil, Amarelo, Cor de Rosa e Carvão'' (a.k.a. ''Rose and Charcoal''). * Hole covered the song live at the

Whisky a Go Go The Whisky a Go Go (informally nicknamed "the Whisky") is a historic nightclub in West Hollywood, California, United States. It is located at 8901 Sunset Boulevard on the Sunset Strip, corner North Clark Street, opposite North San Vicente Boule ...

in February 1992, and frontwoman

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as ...

introduced it as "the original new waver". Hole's version included lyrically altered verses but retained the chorus lyrics and chord progression. The recording eventually ended up on the band's first EP, ''

Ask for It ''Ask for It'' is an EP by American alternative rock band Hole, released on September 8, 1995. It was the band's second and last release on Caroline Records, the first being their debut album ''Pretty on the Inside'' (1991). Although the EP was re ...

'' (1995). *

Alejandro Escovedo Alejandro Escovedo (born January 10, 1951) is an American rock musician, songwriter, and singer, who has been recording and touring since the late 1970s. His primary instrument is the guitar. He has played in various rock genres, including punk ...

includes a live cover of the song—a duet with

Kelly Hogan Kelly Hogan (born January 11, 1965) is an American singer-songwriter, often known for her work as a member of Neko Case's backing band, as well as for her solo work. Early and personal life Hogan was born in Atlanta, Georgia, the daughter of ...

—on his 1999 release '' Bourbonitis Blues''. *

Counting Crows Counting Crows is an American rock band from San Francisco, California. Formed in 1991, the band consists of guitarist David Bryson, drummer Jim Bogios, vocalist Adam Duritz, keyboardist Charlie Gillingham, David Immerglück, bass guitarist Mil ...

covered the song several times at live shows in 2003 and later. * The Kills recorded the song in 2010, releasing it as a B-side in early 2012

In popular culture

An instrumental version of the song was used in

Julian Schnabel Julian Schnabel (born October 26, 1951) is an American painter and filmmaker. In the 1980s, he received international attention for his "plate paintings" — with broken ceramic plates set onto large-scale paintings. Since the 1990s, he has been ...

's 2007 film '' The Diving Bell and the Butterfly''.Full Credits for "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)"
(Retrieved on March 22, 2008) The song was also used in a scene of the 2008 film ''

August August is the eighth month of the year in the Julian and Gregorian calendars, and the fifth of seven months to have a length of 31 days. Its zodiac sign is Leo and was originally named '' Sextilis'' in Latin because it was the 6th month i ...

'', as well as 2009's '' Adventureland'', the 2000 film ''

The Vertical Ray of the Sun ''The Vertical Ray of the Sun'' ( vi, Mùa hè chiều thẳng đứng) is the third feature film by Vietnamese-born French director Trần Anh Hùng. It was released in 2000 and is the final part of what many now consider to be Tran's "Vietnam tr ...

'', and the 2015 film Regular Show: The Movie. The song drives the plot in the 1997

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

n romance film '' The Contact'', in which a radio DJ receives an anonymous package containing the album ''The Velvet Underground'' and plays "Pale Blue Eyes," hoping to reconnect with his former lover. The song and the LP version of the album were both featured in an episode of the 2009-2010 South Korean sitcom '' High Kick Through the Roof''. The characters Shin Sekyung (

Shin Se-kyung Shin Se-kyung (; born July 29, 1990) is a South Korean actress, singer and model. She started as a child actress and had her breakthrough in 2009 with the sitcom ''High Kick Through the Roof''. Since then she starred in the films ''Hindsight'' ...

) and Lee Jihoon (

Daniel Choi Dan Choi (born February 22, 1981) is an American former infantry officer in the United States Army who served in combat in the Iraq War during 2006–2007. He became an LGBT rights activist following his coming out on ''The Rachel Maddow Show' ...

) listened to the song a number of times in a record bar and a cafe which Jihoon had often frequented as a college student. Later, Sekyung purchased the record as a souvenir; in a subsequent episode, she gave the record to Jihoon as a birthday gift. The original song was featured during the final scenes of the January 25, 2009 episode of '' Cold Case'' (CBS) entitled "The Brush Man". This program regularly features music popular during the time when the cold case being investigated had occurred. Although the murder in this episode occurred in 1967, "Pale Blue Eyes" was recorded in 1969. The song was also featured in episodes of ''

Crossing Jordan ''Crossing Jordan'' is an American crime drama Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its dete ...

'', ''

Fringe Fringe may refer to: Arts * Edinburgh Festival Fringe, the world's largest arts festival, known as "the Fringe" * Adelaide Fringe, the world's second-largest annual arts festival * Fringe theatre, a name for alternative theatre * The Fringe, the ...

'' and '' The Deuce''.

The Killers The Killers are an American rock band formed in Las Vegas in 2001 by Brandon Flowers (lead vocals, keyboards, bass) and Dave Keuning (lead guitar, backing vocals). After going through a number of short-term bass players and drummers in t ...

paid tribute to Lou Reed on the day of his death by performing this song at the inaugural Life Is Beautiful Music & Art Festival in

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Veg ...

. The song was used in the 2015

Cartoon Network Cartoon Network (often abbreviated as CN) is an American cable television channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. It is a part of The Cartoon Network, Inc., a division that also has the broadcasting and production activities of Boomerang, ...

television film '' Regular Show: The Movie'' during the dramatic moment when Mordecai confronts Rigby over screwing him out of going to college.

Aziz Ansari Aziz Ismail Ansari (; born February 23, 1983) is an American actor and stand-up comedian. He is known for his role as Tom Haverford on the NBC series '' Parks and Recreation'' (2009–2015) and as creator and star of the Netflix series '' Mas ...

used the song in his 2019

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

stand-up comedy special '' Aziz Ansari: Right Now''. The song was featured in the third episode of Season 2, of the

series ''Sex Education''.

External links

May 1965 demo

References

{{Authority control The Velvet Underground songs 1969 songs Rock ballads Songs written by Lou Reed MGM Records singles