Moody Blues – Story in Your Eyes

Great melody in this song. One of the best rock songs of its era. I bought the album Every Good Boy Deserves Favour when I heard this song from Columbia House. I would say that this song made me a Moody Blues Fan. The Moody Blues are sometimes described as a progressive band, but unlike some progressive bands, they kept a good pop/rock sensibility…some have called them an “Art”rock band which fits much better to me. And…the bass in this song is great.

If you were stuck on the orchestral sounds of Days of Future Passed, The Story in Your Eyes might have caught you off guard…in the best way possible. The song was released in 1971 as the lead single from Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, this Justin Hayward-written song is one of the Moody Blues’ most energetic, guitar-driven tracks, proving they could rock with their harder peers.

The album title, Every Good Boy Deserves Favour comes from a mnemonic phrase used to remember the notes on the lines of the treble clef.  E, G, B, D, F, (Every Good Boy Does Fine) from bottom to top. 

The song peaked at #23 on the Billboard 100, and #7 in Canada,  in 1971.

Justin Hayward: “Despite its personal nature, ‘The Story in Your Eyes’ is also kind of about the band, We’re part of the fire that is burning, and from the ashes we can build another day.” “There’s a kind of confession in it, as we were soon about to go through a rather awkward phase.”

Justin Hayward: “The song just sprung out of my acoustic guitar one day while I was at home. I was just playing my Martin D-28…I don’t know for certain if it’s from ’55 or ’57, but it’s been with me since 1969 and the first thing that came to me was the middle-eight section. And from there, the rest of the song came together.” 

“Only a couple of weeks before entering the studio, I had done a version of it with Mike (keyboardist Mike Pinder) at his place, with just me playing the guitar and him working out the piano part for the outro. Mike then did eight or 12 tracks of Mellotron, bouncing from one machine to another. And it only sounded good when he had done it and multitracked it.” 

“When it came time for the electric guitar part, I used a Cherry Red 1963 [Gibson] ES-335 that I’ve had since 1968. The electric guitar that opens the song including feedback that’s in tune to an A note…and goes all the way through the song is the ES-335 direct into the Normal chan

nel of an AC30 Top Boost turned up full. In the solo and at the end, that’s the ES-335 again through a Marshall Reverb-Fuzz Unit.” 

 
 
 

Story in Your Eyes

I’ve been thinking about our fortune
And I’ve decided that we’re really not to blame
For the love that’s deep inside us now, is still the same
And the sound we make together
Is the music to the story in your eyes
It’s been shining down upon you now, I realize

Listen to the tide slowly turning
Wash all our heartaches away
We are part of the fire that is burning
And from the ashes we can build another day
But I’m frightened for your children
And the life that we are living is in vain
And the sunshine we’ve been waiting for
Will turn to rain

When the final line is over
And it’s certain that the curtain’s gonna fall
I can hide inside your sweet sweet love
Forever more

Listen to the tide slowly turning
Wash all our heartaches away
We are part of the fire that is burning
And from the ashes we can build another day
But I’m frightened for your children
And the life that we are living is in vain
And the sunshine we’ve been waiting for
Will turn to rain

Unknown's avatar

Author: Badfinger (Max)

Power Pop fan, Baseball, Beatles, Alternative music, old movies, and tv show fan. Also anything to do with pop culture in the 60s and 70s... I'm also a songwriter, bass and guitar player. Not the slightest bit interested in politics at all.

47 thoughts on “Moody Blues – Story in Your Eyes”

  1. Momo is the Moody Blues fan. She came packed with all their albums, I contributed all of the Beatles disc We never got to see the boys live, but did manage to catch everyone else in the universe. Good read, Max.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. I remember my stress filled working days, a project manager building Lowes stores all over the country. It was a 24/7 job, no days away from that damn cell phone and travel. Damn near killed me. Don’t let it eat you up, Max.

        Liked by 2 people

      2. No…I’m just working around it and getting to people when I can. In my line of work…I can be doing nothing for weeks…and then everyone’s hair is on fire for another week or two. IT is almost like firemen…we are only noticed when something goes wrong.

        Liked by 3 people

      4. Yes I do Sheila…I’m an IT Director of a company. Right now that is what is keeping me from being on here as much…I hope it passes soon. It’s either nothing going on or everything at once.

        Liked by 1 person

  3. Pingback: Moody Blues – Story in Your Eyes – MobsterTiger

  4. Other than not understanding the last two paragraphs-being technically challenged and all, very interesting! I never caught the band but Hayward did this when I saw him. Which was pretty awesome.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  8. I always liked this song, Max. It is not clear if he is also married, but he is happy being with this woman, because he feels a deep connection with her.  Love happens between people and neither one of them is responsible for this awkward situation that they are in.  The love sounds that they make together are enhancing the quality of this relationship and strengthening the love that they have for each other.  Eyes are said to be the windows to the soul, but her eyes are playing music and telling the story of their love, which he has just started to realize.  As their love continues, it keeps getting better even though trouble is near, they are staying optimistic.  He is worried about how her children will perceive their mother being involved in an affair and he also wonders why there is no progress being made to keep them together.  He might be thinking about proposing to her and he feels that if he doesn’t act soon, he could miss his chance altogether.  At the same time, he seems to be happy just being with her, because things are good the way they are.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  11. I was a big Moodies fan, had all of their albums from Days Of Future Passed on. As you say, they were labelled prog-rock but I always thought there was much more to them. This brings back memories 😊

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  13. Art rock is the right description, this is a fine number It sorta slipped between the cracks, as Dave says. On a trivia(l) note a lot of their album artwork catches the eye. I like me some decent album art.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  14. One of my favorite Moodies songs. I had the two-record set This Is The Moody Blues on vinyl and rebought it on CD when my turntable wasn’t so great anymore. For a greatest hits collection, I think it has a fantastic running order, and every song is great.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Yeah, I had that one too on cassette, but the tape was so thin because they were double-length it was always warping or breaking. I had at least two copies.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. I actually stole the album from a library near where I went to high school (my mispent youth), and loved it all….and yes, loved story in your eyes, it was the 70s, and loved listening to it, and attempting to play that riff….

    some of the Moody Blues tunes left me could, and then started listening to their albums as a whole rather than looking for that hit single….Days of Future Past is still a favorite..much like Procol Harum work…

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh yea I like Procol Harum a lot… love Whiskey Train.
      Well if you had to pick an album…this would be a good one.

      Like

      Reply

  16. If you’d ask me whether I dig the Moody Blues, my immediate answer would be ‘yes.’ And I do, but the reality is I’m basing my sentiment on rather limited knowledge of their music.

    I believe the only Moodys album I’ve heard front to back is “Days of Future Passed,” which I really love. Other than that, it comes down to a handful of other songs from different albums.

    I don’t think I had heard any track from “Every Good Boy Deserves Favour” before. That said, “The Story In Your Eyes” is a great song!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

    1. Oh yea….they had some great songs from this time. Question, Ride My See Saw, and more. Yes this one is a great one…you know what song it reminds me of? Wild Night by Van Morrision…that bass line is similiar but anyway…yes it’s a good song.

      Liked by 1 person

      Reply

  21. I went through a big Moody Blues phase. There was something about their epic search for the meaning of life that appealed to me. I saw them in concert, and still remember smiling when Ray Pinder played his mellotron and the crowd gasped, wondering where the “orchestra” was.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

Leave a comment