Bette Davis Eyes

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  Seven Songs for the Week #85 - 20th Nov 24

  Jason Carty

  You might have heard the song Taste by Sabrina Carpenter, someone who is very much having an excellent pop year. There is a moment that borrows from Kim Carnes' Bette Davis Eyes in that track. This song is 43 years old (!), the equivalent is a song in 1981 quoting a song from 1938. There's not much happening in Bette Davis Eyes, I mean, it's hugely familiar, but that synth riff is really quite sparse but conveys a lot. I recall the 7up/PacMan ad as a kid which used a reworded version of the track, a cultural mash-up of 1981 that only needed a Rubik's cube to complete the set.

  You can go on YouTube and watch Kim perform this song repeatedly over the years. She's now in her late 70s and she still performs it with care. Is that a blessing or a curse?

  The fun part is that this is a cover. If I told you the original version from 1974 was a ragtime, jazzy confection would you believe me. It sounds like 1938!