My Father's Eyes (song)

"My Father's Eyes"
Single by Eric Clapton
from the album Pilgrim
B-side	"Theme from a Movie That Never Happened", "Inside of Me"
Released	1998
Format	CD single
Recorded	1997
Genre	Rock, blues, blues-rock
Length	5:24
Label	Reprise
Writer(s)	Eric Clapton
Producer	Eric Clapton, Simon Climie
Eric Clapton singles chronology
"Change the World" (1996) "My Father's Eyes" (1998) "Circus" (1998)

"My Father's Eyes" is a song written and performed by Eric Clapton and produced by Clapton himself and Simon Climie. It was released as a single in 1998 and was featured on the album Pilgrim. The song reached the top 40 and won a Grammy award for Best Male Pop Vocal Performance. The song is inspired by the fact that Clapton never met his father, who died in 1985. It also refers to the brief life of Clapton's son Conor, who died at age four after falling from an apartment window. "In it I tried to describe the parallel between looking the eyes of my son, and the eyes of the father that I never met, through the chain of our blood", said Clapton in his autobiography. He retired the song in 2004, along with Tears in Heaven. "My Father's Eyes" describes how Clapton wishes he knew his father.

Clapton performed this track for the first time in 1992 and 1996 in both electric and unplugged versions, which were completely different from the original 1998 release.

"My Father's Eyes" was resurrected for the One More Car, One More Rider tour in 2001.

Music video

In the beginning of the music video (directed by Kevin Godley), we see a basketball which dribbles seven times, the seventh dribble causing the basketball to break into pieces. This dribbling footage returns at the end of the video, without the basketball breaking. Between these scenes, there is footage of Eric Clapton playing guitar and a running treadmill.

Track listing

1. "My Father's Eyes"
2. "Change The World"
3. "Theme from a Movie That Never Happened" (Orchestral)
4. "Inside of Me"