just another one of my 'obscure' Suzanne
favorites...always makes me melancholy
larry t

Obscure indeed. I hear many people talk about periods of their life in which they were not in a suicidal state of being, but they wouldn't have resisted if someone was pulling a trigger while pointing the gun at them. "In the Eye" could be applied to such periods in your lifetime. Well, at least it could apply to me when I myself was in the above described state.

Spikey

I've been in that state. In a twisted way, it feels empowering to know you wouldn't cower to a death threat.

This reminds me that just today I saw a TV program about an anorexic girl. At one time she'd been very overweight, and then she made the decision to starve herself. She described a sense of great power the day she realized she was too thin for her smallest pair of pants. From there she became skeletal and now faces death, thoroughly afraid of food the way any normal person would be of poison.

Extremes demand courage, but foolhardiness is going to extremes in the name of courage.

Well, that girl could sing "In the Eye" in front of the mirror then. Except, well, you know, the mirror image doesn't have a memory, and if it would, her alterego wouldn't have to be burned into the memory because if one dies, the other dies to. I don't know what I wanted to say exactly, cause it sounds real stupid as I write this. I'll post it anyway.

Spikey

I love this song because it gives the victim power. its not survival of the fitest but of the strong willed. and even in a last moment, she is strong enough to remind the pretetor that she will always be haunting his memory.
thats my thoughts anyway!

I share your view Alese, definitely, much more than the one about supposed suicidal ideas.... I think this is a possible victim talking just before something bad possibly happens, and telling the bad guy, "you don't scare me, you should be scared actually, because if I die, you'll have to live with the memory of this death, and of these eyes staring at you, and possibly judging you (or is it the killer's conscience/subconscious that will do it to him?) and forever scaring the hell out of you.... " This could be literally speaking, or maybe also metaphorically..... something like "if you hurt me in any way, I won't hide away but will stay and take the hurt and have you remember it forever, just by the look in my eye.... and then maybe you'll have more troubled thoughts from it than I will... " It could basically mean "I'm not scared by any possible harm you might inflict to me, I'll face it and you, and I'll wait for the time when you will have to face what you did on your turn... so let's see who's scared now!" ;) Great song anyway. I liked it straightaway.

Miki

Who said the killer is to be a guy, Miki?

This is a great song, one of my faves off this remarkable album.
It really does make you wonder what kind of point the author must have been in in her life to arrive at such a sentiment, what her relationship was to the "you" in the song - abusive lover? childhood tormentor? Parent?
There are many images of death and violence in Suzanne's music and on this album in particular. Each song has its own particular point of view on the subject.
I like all the posts on this song. Glad to know it provokes thought.
In college I was doodling in French class one day and came up with a translation of the first line of the song (we must have been studying the conditional tense, or something like that - I've long forgotten)

"Si tu me tuerais ici maintenant je te regarderai encore a l'oeil"

Or something like that...
Brady

I've wanted Suzanne to remake this song for these times. A slower, more somber reading. It's one that flies by faster than the lyrics should and deserves another lifespan.   

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"The future has a brilliant future in it."

huntre:

I've wanted Suzanne to remake this song for these times. A slower, more somber reading. It's one that flies by faster than the lyrics should and deserves another lifespan.  

OK, I'm going out on a limb here, but Larry T., is this you?  If so, hope you are well and let's catch up at some point!

Anyway, as stated in another thread, this has always been a favorite of mine and I like your use of words: 'deserves another lifespan.'  I agree—I think it's been an overlooked song, or perhaps one that just didn't get it's due for whatever reasons.

Personally, I love the beat, how it flies by like lightning, juxtaposed to the deadly serious lyrics—quietly yet firmly sung.  Aside from the chorus (where her 'normal/higher pitched singing voice' comes through), there is no mistaking that the narrative voice would indeed be able 'look you in the eye,' showing no fear, even in the face of death. In fact, she would haunt you—unafraid to run, turn or hide for the rest of your life.

IMHO, a definitive statement of her own certainty: on exactly where she stands herself, and towards the person spoken to in this song. I love the fact that she's so damn certain, it's almost a taunt.

I heard it sung live on the 'Solitude Standing' Tour, and while Suzanne does pull things out of her hat at times, I don't think I'll ever get my wish to hear it that way again. 

But hey, that's what the 'repeat' button is for on CD players, right?

Love,
Catherine
 

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"If we don't change the direction we are headed,
we will end up where we are going."

—Chinese Proverb

Howdy. Not Larry T.

I'm new to the site. Been posting like a maniac on James Taylor Online for a few years and wanted to come here in support of SV and all she does. She's a treasure. I'd still love to hear a slower, even more personal version of this song. In some ways, the original take reminds me of "Left Of Center". Very 80's, yet still a personal statement from someone who won't back down. Ever.

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"The future has a brilliant future in it."

I’m glad this topic is back, especially because I had not spotted it before. “In the eye” is to me the B-side or antithesis of “Small blue thing”. Hence, to me it makes all the sense that it’s a song full of vibrant sounds and static electricity, and not a slow tune with a shivering feeling – it’s a reaction and a confrontation, instead of an acknowledgement of fragility.  

 

(eventually, i'm the only one to feel this, but the sound of this song always suggested me an oriental scenario. I had always pictured it as the perfect song for any Rush Hour movie ending, after Jacky Chan saves someone from the Chinese mob.)

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- Are you serious?
- Yes, i am. I'm your guardian angel.
- Amazing!I've never believed in that.Am i dead?
- No. You're just hallucinating.

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chance is the only thing that doesn't happen by chance

just to make my point clear i'll add a word to my last sentence on the post above: and it's not *just* a challenge towards the listener that i feel, it's also a challenge suzanne embraces herself, as an artist and a person.

 

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chance is the only thing that doesn't happen by chance

Great responses. Thanks. She's very intriguing. I've given her "RETROspective" disc as a gift to some who aren't familiar with her body of work. They all have responded by getting the original albums to hear more. That makes me feel like I'm doing right by SV.

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"The future has a brilliant future in it."