Initially, Since the Accident was a cassette tape recorded between 1982 and 1983, and "Dead Eyes Opened" was only left on said tape to help fill up the blank space. The song includes a spoken word sample, which was later revealed to have been taken from the television series Scales of Justice.
The track was released as a 12-inch vinyl single in early 1984 to help promote Since the Accident, to which it received favorable reviews from critics. Sounds magazine critic Dave Henderson described the track as "gutsy, emotional, and melodic sound" and, along with nine other singles released that same week, gave the track "Single of the Week" status.[8] AllMusic critic Sean Carruthers gave the single 4 and a half stars out of a possible five, stating that it's "...a great introduction for the band for North American audiences". Tom Ellard, frontman of Severed Heads, has expressed his distaste for the track many times throughout the years, even calling it "insipid" in one interview. The single received a commercial release in Australia in June 1984.
Since its initial release in 1984, the single has been reissued a few times, each "version" includes a completely new track listing from the original. Nettwerk reissued the single as a 12-inch extended play in 1986, complete with new tracks, in order to help promote the then-newly released Come Visit The Big Bigot. Similarly, Volition Records, in partnership with Sony Music, released another version of the single in 1994, now set with new remixes of the track, to help promote Gigapus. The entire 1986 Nettwerk single was also included on the compact disc version of Come Visit The Big Bigot, which was titled as Come Visit The Big Bigot With Dead Eyes Opened, while the entire 1994 Volition single was included as a bonus second disc on some versions of Gigapus.
Dead Eyes Opened
Severed Heads Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When Mahon doing his grisly work at the bungalow,
Was dealing with the most grisly job of all,
The head, the woman's head.
He had severed it from the trunk,
Built a huge fire in the sitting room, placed her head upon it,
Then, then the storm broke
As the head of Emily Kaye lay upon the coals,
The dead eyes opened, and Mahon fled out to the deserted shore.
When he nerved himself to return,
The fire had done its work.
The head was never found...
The lyrics of the song "Dead Eyes Opened" by Severed Heads speak of a grisly murder that took place during a thunderstorm. The lyrics paint a graphic picture of how the murderer, named Mahon, severed the head of a woman named Emily Kaye and placed it on a fire in the sitting room of a bungalow. As Mahon was dealing with the most gruesome part of his crime, the storm broke with a violent flash of lightning and a deafening crash of thunder.
The most chilling part of the lyrics comes next, as the head of Emily Kaye lay on the coals, her dead eyes opened. The sight of the eyes opening was too much for Mahon to bear, and he fled out to the deserted shore. When he returned, the fire had done its work, and the head was never found.
The song paints a disturbing image of a grisly murder and the horror that comes with it. The sudden change in the weather and the opening of the dead eyes create an eerie atmosphere that stays with the listener long after the song has ended.
Line by Line Meaning
By strange coincidence, a thunderstorm had been brewing,
It was a fortunate coincidence for Mahon, for there was a brewing thunderstorm at the time he was working on his grisly job at the bungalow.
When Mahon doing his grisly work at the bungalow,
Mahon was performing his heinous job at the bungalow.
Was dealing with the most grisly job of all,
Mahon was working on the most gruesome task he had ever dealt with.
The head, the woman's head.
Mahon was working on the woman's decapitated head.
He had severed it from the trunk,
Mahon had cut off the head of the woman from her body.
Built a huge fire in the sitting room, placed her head upon it,
Mahon had created a massive fire in the sitting room and put the head of the woman upon it.
Then, then the storm broke
It was when the storm started showing its wrath.
With a violent flash of lightning and an appalling crash of thunder.
The storm was characterised by sudden bright flashes of lightning and deafening crashes of thunder.
As the head of Emily Kaye lay upon the coals,
While Emily Kaye's head was lying on the burning coals,
The dead eyes opened, and Mahon fled out to the deserted shore.
Emily's eyes miraculously opened, and Mahon was scared and he hurriedly escaped to the isolated shore in fear.
When he nerved himself to return,
After taking some time to build up his courage,
The fire had done its work.
The fire had consumed all the evidence, and nothing remained of the work that Mahon had done.
The head was never found...
The woman's head was never discovered, and Mahon had succeeded in removing all evidence of his heinous work.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: TOM ELLARD
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind