Behind These Hazel Eyes

"Behind These Hazel Eyes"
A black and white frontal image of Clarkson holding her curly hair at the back of her head. She is looking in front. On her upper left, the word "Kelly Clarkson" and "Behind These Hazel Eyes" are written in yellow and white capital letters respectively.
Single by Kelly Clarkson
from the album Breakaway
ReleasedApril 12, 2005 (2005-04-12)
Recorded2004
Studio
GenrePop rock[1]
Length3:19
LabelRCA
Songwriter(s)
Producer(s)
Kelly Clarkson singles chronology
"Since U Been Gone"
(2004)
"Behind These Hazel Eyes"
(2005)
"Because of You"
(2005)
Music video
"Behind These Hazel Eyes" on YouTube

"Behind These Hazel Eyes" is a song by American singer Kelly Clarkson for her second studio album, Breakaway (2004). It was written by Clarkson with the song's producers Max Martin and Dr. Luke. The song was released on April 12, 2005, as the second single from the album. Clarkson considered "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of her favorite songs and she once intended to name Breakaway after the song. "Behind These Hazel Eyes" is an uptempo song that incorporates crunchy guitars which are pulsated with driving beats and anthemic choruses; it narrates Clarkson's broken relationship with her ex-boyfriend.

"Behind These Hazel Eyes" peaked at number six on the Billboard Hot 100 and stayed inside the top 10 in the chart for 15 weeks, a record for the longest time spent in the top 10 for a song that did not hit top five, until it was beaten by Rihanna's "Needed Me" in 2016. It also became Clarkson's first song to top the Adult Pop Songs chart. It was certified platinum from Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for selling over one million digital downloads. Elsewhere, the song charted in the top 10 in Australia, Austria, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand and the United Kingdom.

The song's accompanying music video was directed by Joseph Kahn and produced by Danyi Deats-Barrett. The concept of the video was conceived by Clarkson and depicts her as a bride who experiences some dream-like hints that her fiancé is having an affair with a brunette ceremony attendee. The music video premiered online at MTV and it also received heavy rotation on Total Request Live. The song was performed live by Clarkson at numerous venues, including the Breakaway World Tour (2005) and the All I Ever Wanted Tour (2009).

  1. ^ Ahmed, Adit (November 26, 2019). "What Made Kelly Clarkson's Breakaway a Pop Landmark".