"The Smile Has Left Your Eyes:" A song that I love and don't like
John Wetton and Geoff Downes of Asia perform. (Photo by @jomelia)
Pop songs can be funny creatures.
There are great songs that were both well-written and well-presented: A perfect marriage of melody, lyrics and production. The Beatles had a lot of these. “What a Fool Believes.” Much of Steely Dan’s catalog. Tom Petty when he was at his peak with the Heartbreakers. “Everywhere” by Fleetwood Mac.
But also, the Pretenders’ first LP, in full. Crowded House’s best songs. Quite a few of Pat Benatar’s songs. At least two LPs by A Tribe Called Quest. “Set Adrift on Memory Bliss” by P.M. Dawn, which benefited from another great song, “True” by Spandau Ballet.
And then there are songs that have two out of three, but the third bit… tanks the song.
You’ve heard them — great lyrics hamstrung by an overly derivative melody. Beautifully produced, but the lyrics are “moon… June.”
And today’s example: “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”, off Asia’s second album, Alpha. (Which… if you’re going to name your second album, Alpha wouldn’t be the title I’d go with but… )
Asia is a supergroup borne from some of progressive rock’s biggest acts: Guitarist Steve Howe came from Yes, drummer Carl Palmer from Emerson Lake & Palmer and bassist/vocalist John Wetton from King Crimson. And then there was keyboardist Geoff Downes, also from Yes but best known for being in the Buggles with Trevor Horn. That duo came up with “Video Killed the Radio Star”, which, of course, was the first ever video on MTV — and is an awesome song in its own right.
So Asia released its first album — simply called Asia. And even though everyone’s pretty much over prog rock at this point (or so it seemed), the LP was a huge hit. It spawned big singles: “Only Time Will Tell” and “Heat of the Moment” both were big chart wins. (And that’s something most prog bands could never do.)
Why Alpha, and this song, failed
Hopes seemed to be high for album No. 2, Alpha. But as was the case with so many follow-ups, there was also outside pressure. According to Howe’s autobiography, he and Wetton were at odds over who was responsible for the band’s success. The label wanted Wetton and Downes to write the songs. And everything was rushed.
In the end, Alpha wasn’t as big a success, and eventually, Howe left (and came back), and Wetton left (and came back), and the band would exist with various members — and is still around to this day. Downes is the only original member left — which, as these things go, is par for the course.
Anyway, in the midst of this second album, Wetton wrote “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes.” When the LP was released, I found myself at odds with this song. The production — MY GOD THIS PRODUCTION — was wildly overblown. Wetton’s vocals could scarcely be heard over Downes’ at times histrionic keyboards and Howe’s guitar, and then Palmer comes in with these BOOMING drums.
And yet, there was … something there. This melody somehow… worked.
So I didn’t get Alpha on CD (I may have had it on tape, but it rarely got played, if at all), and the song found itself in the recesses of memory. And yet…
The other day I decided to look it up on YouTube, just to listen to it again. There was always something about this band I liked — I think it was a combination of Wetton’s vocals (I think they’re among the best in music, check out Red by King Crimson if you want proof) and some really good melodies stuck in the molasses of prog excess.
A new look at “The Smile Has Left Your Eyes”
And I found a version from 2013 — from a live concert in Bulgaria. At this point, Asia was Wetton, Downes, Palmer and guitarist Sam Coulson; Howe had decided to focus on Yes only (can’t blame him). This version, part of an LP called Symfonia, was recorded with the Plovdiv Philharmonic Orchestra.
In this version, it starts out slow, very slow. Only Wetton, Downes (on piano) and a string section play the full song at first. I began to see a different song — one full of ache and emotion, buried in the mix in the original version. And I realized this may have been the original intent!
As the final strains played, the audience applauded, and THEN, Asia launched into a more familiar version of it. Coulson opened with a solo — his more edgy style seemed to work well here — and then the louder version kicked in. This time, I didn’t have a problem with it — the familiarity of the melody and lyrics was already in place, and now you get the musicianship.
It hit me, here’s where it goes right, and where the original goes wrong. But at least Asia got it right that time.
Sadly, five years later, in 2017, Wetton passed away. But he was able to leave a mark, at least with me.