"Give Me Your Eyes" | ||||
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Single by Brandon Heath | ||||
from the album What If We | ||||
Released | July 23, 2008 | |||
Format | Digital download | |||
Genre | Pop, CCM | |||
Length | 3:52 | |||
Label | Reunion | |||
Writer(s) | Brandon Heath, Jason Ingram | |||
Producer(s) | Dan Muckala | |||
Brandon Heath singles chronology | ||||
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"Give Me Your Eyes" is a song by contemporary Christian musician Brandon Heath from his second album, What If We. It was released in July 2008 as the album's lead single and quickly gained success. It sold nearly 6,000 downloads in the first week, and became 2008's highest-debuting Christian track at the time. It soon placed at No. 1 on Christian radio charts, and held the position for multiple consecutive weeks. At the end of 2008, it was the second most-played song of the year on Christian contemporary hit radio.
The song is about wanting to see the world as God would, and having a desire to view people with more compassion. "Give Me Your Eyes" was written by Heath and songwriter Jason Ingram, and was generally well received by critics. The song received two GMA Dove Awards in April 2009, including the Song of the Year title. It was also Grammy Award-nominated in the Best Gospel Song category for 2009.
The song's meaning originated with a discussion between Brandon Heath and friend and songwriter Jason Ingram. "We had a conversation over Chinese food that we wished we could have God’s perspective on things", Heath said. "If we did have His perspective, we'd wish we could have it for long periods of time, rather than just for a few seconds. That was the beginning." He soon began to pen a song about the idea, co-writing "Give Me Your Eyes" with Ingram. Prior to recording What If We, Heath had written 40 possible tracks for the album, and although the song was not his top favorite, he noted that "Give Me Your Eyes" was "one of the first that really stuck out."
The song's genre is represented by pop, and includes acoustic and mild hip hop influences. It is a mid-tempo song based upon a strummed acoustic guitar, background piano, and occasional strings. The song's continuous clap-sounding beat was described as a "hip-hop shuffle", drawing comparisons to Christian musician Mat Kearney.