Kim Carnes – Bette Davis Eyes

“Bette Davis Eyes” – Single by Kim Carnes from the album Mistaken Identity, released – March 10, 1981.

“Bette Davis Eyes” was written in 1974 by singer/songwriters Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon. The latter initially recorded the song, releasing it on her 1975 album, New Arrangement. However, it would not be until the early 1980s that the tune became the Kim Carnes hit we know it as today.

The inspiration for the song was American actress Bette Davis, a renowned figure during Hollywood’s Golden Age and an icon still today. The starlet, best known for her role as Margo Channing in the 1950 film, All About Eve, often portrayed strong, independent female characters and her distinctive eyes became her trademark.

Davis was 73 at the time of the song’s success, and reportedly wrote letters to Carnes, Weiss, and DeShannon to thank them for making her “a part of modern times.”

The video was directed by Australian film director Russell Mulcahy.

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Kim Carnes - Bette Davis Eyes

03:37

Lyrics

Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips are sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll turn the music on you
You won’t have to think twice
She’s pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes
And she’ll tease you, she’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious, and she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo’s standoff sighs, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She’ll lay you on the throne
She got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come out blue
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll expose you, when she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs, she throws you
She’s ferocious and she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
And she’ll tease you, she’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious, and she knows just what it
Takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy, she’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
Just to please you
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll expose you
When she snows you
She knows you, she’s got Bette Davis Eyes
Songwriters: Donna Weiss / Jackie De Shannon
Bette Davies Eyes lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc, Karen Schauben Publishing Administration

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