The Platters - "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes"
Hit Number 1: January 19, 1959
Stay at Number 1: 3 Weeks
Let's be real here. The 50s were full of corny sappy songs about love and heartbreak, and these songs were sometimes sung by teen idols who merely existed just cause they looked good and could sing just a little bit. In fact, this year alone will feature a few songs by these teen idols. 1959 was an interesting year for music, to say the least, and we're gonna have all kinds of crap this year. But, it got off to a good start with the Platters' near perfect love song "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes".
The Platters were not made up of teen idols. Instead, they were a group of talented singers that were mostly known for their slow ballad type songs. They were a very popular group in the 1950s, and had actually had a few #1 songs on the Pre-Hot 100 throughout the decade. However, "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" was their only #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100. But hey, at least they had their moment in this series, right?
"Smoke Gets In Your Eyes" is a song about a guy who is told that "all who love are blind", meaning that all who love could eventually have their moment of being sad that their love has gone away, and failing to realize that that could even be a possibility. He laughs it off, thinking that there was no chance of that happening to him. However, he was wrong, and his love does in fact go away, leaving him sad. The term "smoke gets in your eyes" means crying. Cause obviously, if smoke were to get in your eyes, you would probably cry as an instinct.
The song is a near-masterpiece. It features the lead tenor Tony Williams' powerful voice, and it's almost chill-inducing how well he sings the song. The song has a nice, and steady flow to it too. It's slow, but it doesn't make you bored, or make you wish that the song would at least pick up the pace a little bit. The only thing that could be missing from the song, is that it isn't necessarily a song that will stick with you for a while after listening to it, but it does everything a song should do exceptionally well. It's a great song.
GRADE: 9/10
THE TWOS:
Connie Francis' "My Happiness" peaked at #2 behind "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". It's a 5.
(Connie Francis will eventually show up in this blog)
Bill Parsons' "The All American Boy" also peaked at #2 behind "Smoke Gets In Your Eyes". It's a 6.
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