Sheena Easton – For Your Eyes Only

“For Your Eyes Only” – Single by Sheena Easton from the album For Your Eyes Only
B-side: “For Your Eyes Only” (instrumental)
Released 15 June 1981
Label Liberty (original), RT Industries (current)
Songwriters Bill Conti and Mick Leeson
Producer Christopher Neil
Charted No.1 in US; No.8 in UK; No.1 in Norway; No.5 in Canada; No.5 in West Germany; No.4 in France.

Video recorded live at Palace, Hollywood. in the spring of 1982

“For Your Eyes Only” is the 1981 theme to the 12th James Bond movie of the same name, written by Bill Conti and Mick Leeson, and performed by Scottish singer Sheena Easton for the accompanying soundtrack album.

Bill Conti – who was also responsible for the film For Your Eyes Only’s score – had originally written the song thinking about Donna Summer or Dusty Springfield, singers he thought “fit the Bond style”. Film studio United Artists suggested Sheena Easton, an up-and-coming singer who had recently scored a Billboard Hot 100 number one hit in America with “Morning Train”. Conti heard Easton’s 1981 debut album Take My Time and felt unimpressed but decided to work with her in the song after meeting Easton in person.

The phrase “For Your Eyes Only” generally refers to a confidential document that only the recipient is allowed to see. In this song, the phrase refers to the lady, who does things for her man (the debonair James Bond, perhaps?) that are only for him. He brings something out of her that makes her feel free, and the passion he elicits is reserved strictly for him. She might be an “open book,” but only for him.

Blondie were originally offered this song but their frontwoman Debbie Harry didn’t like the lyrics, which are of a submissive nature that doesn’t suit her. Harry and Blondie guitarist Chris Stein then wrote their own song for the film, but Bond producer Albert Broccoli didn’t rate it, so instead he asked Sheena Easton to sing the original song penned by Conti and Leeson. Blondie later included their song for the movie on their 1982 album The Hunter.

Sheena Easton was only 22 years old when she released “For Your Eyes Only,” making her the youngest person ever to perform a Bond song. She held that record until 2020 when 18-year-old Billie Eilish recorded the theme tune for No Time to Die.