"Eyes Open" is a song written and recorded by the American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift for the soundtrack to the 2012 film The Hunger Games. Produced by Swift and Nathan Chapman, "Eyes Open" is an alternative rock song with chiming guitars. Its lyrics are about staying strong during hardships, told from the perspective of the film's protagonist, Katniss Everdeen. The track was released as a single from the soundtrack on March 27, 2012.
Taylor Swift wrote two songs for the soundtrack to the 2012 film The Hunger Games: "Safe & Sound" and "Eyes Open". She wrote the former with the Civil Wars and the latter by herself.[1] According to Swift, "Eyes Open" is about the Hunger Games protagonist Katniss Everdeen's relationship with the Capitol. She described the song as the opposite of the melancholic "Safe & Sound", stating that "[it is] more frantic and fast-paced, a completely different shade of music".[2]
"Eyes Open" is four minutes and four seconds in length. Critics described the song's genre as alternative rock.[3][4]Billboard said that it "[exists] more in the modern rock vein than [Swift's] usual country-pop oeuvre".[5]
Critical reception
The song garnered general critical acclaim from contemporary critics - most of whom favorably noted the song's more rock-oriented tone as compared to her previous releases. While reviewing The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond, Matt Bjorke named "Eyes Open" as one of the "standouts" on the record.[6] Jason Lipshutz of Billboard also found the same description of the song - stating that it "[exists] more in the modern rock vein than her usual country-pop oeuvre."[7] In June 2022, Business Insider ranked "Eyes Open" as Swift's third best soundtrack song, only behind "Safe & Sound" and "I Don't Wanna Live Forever".[8]
Swift first premiered the song during a performance in Auckland for her Speak Now World Tour.[10] The song was leaked before its official release date of March 20, 2012.[11][12]
Upon the soundtrack's release, "Eyes Open" entered the US Billboard Hot 100 at number 19 with 176,000 digital copies as the week's highest debut.[13] After it was sent to mainstream radio, the song debuted on Billboard's Mainstream Top 40 airplay chart at number 28 and was Swift's highest debut to date; it would reach number 20 on the chart.[14][15] In December 2012, "Eyes Open" received a platinum certification from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA);[16] it became Swift's sixteenth million-seller and her second from the soundtrack after "Safe & Sound".[17] By November 2017, the song had sold 1.4 million units in the United States.[18]
Elsewhere, "Eyes Open" peaked on the charts in various Anglophone territories, at number 17 in Canada,[19] number 47 in Australia,[20] number 65 in Ireland,[21] and number 70 in the United Kingdom.[22] In New Zealand, the song debuted and peaked at number six on the RMNZ's Top 40 Singles chart and was certified gold by Recorded Music NZ (RMNZ).[23][24]
Personnel
Adapted from the liner notes of The Hunger Games: Songs from District 12 and Beyond[25]
"Eyes Open (Taylor's Version)" was released for streaming and download as an independent track without appearing on any album.[38] It was included on a streaming-only compilation titled The More Red (Taylor's Version) Chapter.[39]