Green Eyes (Aquellos Ojos Verdes)

Infobox Standard
title = Green Eyes
english_title =
comment = originally written as "Aquellos Ojos Verdes"


image_size =
caption =
writer = Adolfo Utrera
Nilo Menéndez
composer =
lyricist = (English) Eddie Rivera
Eddie Woods
published =
written =
language = originally Spanish
new English lyrics written 1929
form =
original_artist =
recorded_by = Jimmy Dorsey orchestra
many other artists; see #Recorded versions
performed_by = "Green Eyes" is a popular song, originally written in Spanish under the title "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" ("Those Green Eyes") by Adolfo Utrera and Nilo Menéndez. The English translation was made by Eddie Rivera and Eddie Woods in 1929.

The song was a hit for the Jimmy Dorsey orchestra. The recording was made on March 19, 1941 with vocals by Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly and released by Decca Records as catalog number 3698. The flip side was "Maria Elena." The record first reached the "Billboard" charts on May 9, 1941 and lasted 21 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1. [cite book
last = Whitburn
first = Joel
authorlink = Joel Whitburn
title = Top Pop Records 1940-1955
publisher = Record Research
year = 1973 ] Since "Maria Elena" was also a #1 hit, this was a major double-sided hit recording.

Ben Affleck sings "Aquellos Ojos Verdes" in the 2006 movie "Hollywoodland".

R&B group, the Ravens, had regional success with a 1955 revival.

Allan Sherman recorded a version titled "Green Stamps", a parody of S&H Green Stamps.

Recorded versions

*All-Star Orchestra
*Ray Anthony Orchestra
*Desi Arnaz
*Don Barreto
*Big Band All-Stars
*Stanley Black
*Boston Pops Orchestra
*Les Brown
*John Bunch
*Frank Chacksfield and his orchestra
*Nat King Cole
*Ray Conniff
*Los Cordobeses
*Xavier Cugat
*Lou Donaldson
*Jimmy Dorsey orchestra (1941)
*The Dorsey Brothers
*Bob Eberly
*Roy Eldridge
*Les & Larry Elgart
*George Evans
*Bob Florence Big Band
*Connie Francis
*Jane Froman
*Earl Grant
*Benny Green
*Kay Harding
*Gene Krupa
*Abbe Lane
*Steve Lawrence
*Ben Light
*Enoch Light
*Enric Madriguera
*Barry Manilow
*Glenn Miller
*Helen O'Connell
*Anita O'Day
*101 Strings Orchestra
*Pony Poindexter
*Baden Powell
*The Ravens
*Edmundo Ros
*Harry Roy
*The Sentimental Strings
*Charlie Shavers
*South Shore Concert Band
*Starsound Orchestra
*Conway Twitty
*Lex Vandyke
*The Ventures
*West Coast Swing Time Orchestra
*Ibrahim Ferrer
*Bebo Valdes And His Orchestra

Lyrics

:Original Spanish Lyrics

:Aquellos ojos verdes
:de mirada serena,
:dejaron en mi alma
:eterna sed de amar.

:Anhelos de caricias,
:de besos y ternuras.
:De todas las dulzuras
:que sabían brindar.

:Aquellos ojos verdes,
:serenos como un lago,
:en cuyas quietas aguas
:un día me miré.
:No saben las tristezas
:que en mi alma han dejado

:Aquellos ojos verdes,
:que yo nunca besaré.

:No saben las tristezas
:que en mi alma han dejado
:Aquellos ojos verdes,
:que yo nunca olvidaré.
:Aquellos ojos verdes,
:que yo nunca olvidaré.

:Aquellos ojos verdes
:serenos como un lago
:en cuyas quietas aguas
:un día me miré,
:no saben las tristezas
:que a mi alma le dejaron
:aquellos ojos verdes
:que ya nunca besaré

:English Translation

:Those green eyes
:with their serene gaze,
:they left in my soul
:eternal thirst to love.

:yearning for caresses,
:for kisses and tenderness.
:for all the sweetness
:that they knew how to offer.

:Those green eyes,
:serene like a lake,
:in whose calm waters
:one day i saw myself
:They do not know the sadness
:that in my soul they have left

:Those green eyes,
:that I never will kiss.

:They do not know the sadness
:that in my soul they have left
:Those green eyes,
:that I never will forget.
:Those green eyes,
:that I never will forget.

:Those green eyes,
:serene like a lake,
:in whose quiet waters
:one day i saw myself
:They do not know the sadness
:that in my soul they have left
:those green eyes
:that I never will kiss

English lyrics

The version written for English audiences varies from the Spanish. The Big Band version typically had a male voice singing these words, followed by a female voice singing the same words, with the exception of the last line. This is one version:

:Well, Green Eyes with their soft lights:Your eyes that promise sweet nights,:Bring to my soul a longing, a thirst for love divine:In dreams I seem to hold you, to find you and enfold you:Our lips meet and our hearts, too, with a thrill so sublime

:Those cool and limpid Green Eyes:A pool wherein my love lies:So deep that in my searching for happiness:I fear that they will ever haunt me:All through my life they'll taunt me:But will they ever want me?

(Male voice):Green Eyes, make my dreams come true.

(Female voice):Green Eyes, I love you.

References