# "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 16, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332 "2016-01-16T15:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/1 "2016-01-16T15:02:24Z")
Ever since I heard this song in my teens, in addition to liking it, I have always wondered about the title. Was it from a movie, was it a quote? It seemed like such an unusual title for a song, that I wondered where the writer the idea for it. Here it is from YouTube (it’s performed by Bobby Vee): [Bobby Vee - "The Night Has A Thousand Eyes" - ORIGINAL VIDEO - YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tNCKKX2eAM). So after all these years, I decided to research it on google and lo and behold it’s from a poem by Francis William Bourdillon (b. 1852). “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” "THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes, And the day but one; Yet the light of the bright world dies With the dying sun. The mind has a thousand eyes, 5 And the heart but one; Yet the light of a whole life dies When love is done." Kinda depressing IMO, but my question is should/need attribution have been given? Thanks Q ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/2 "2016-01-16T15:11:18Z")
Don’t know the answer, just dropping by to say hello. How ya doin’ Quasi? ---
**Author:** ![Quasimodem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/e274bd/32.png) [@Quasimodem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quasimodem)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/3 "2016-01-16T15:14:56Z")
Hi **TriP** What’s that old standby answer? As well as can be expected, I guess. Been pretty busy taking care of my wife who had a stroke (the docs call it “Evolving Stroke”) about two months ago. I may go into a little more detail elsewhere - it’s an interesting story. To the both of us, anyway. Thanks for the note. Q ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/4 "2016-01-16T16:07:04Z")
Yo, **Quasi!** In case you’ve never heard this other version, and Belafonte singing something besides calypso, check out [Harry Belafonte - The Night Has a Thousand Eyes - JazzAndBluesExperience](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L5lrTECSdY) One of my favorite renditions of this other version is by [Horace Silver Quintet - The Night Has a Thousand Eyes](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7m1BEiNt2YU) ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/5 "2016-01-16T17:03:42Z")
Just a note. There \*was \*a film with [that title](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Night_Has_a_Thousand_Eyes). (Well, okay it omits the word _The_, but close enough.) It was based upon a popular novel. I suspect the novel and film were better known than the poem at the time. The song linked by Zeldar was written for the film. It is a totally different song to the Bobby Vee one. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/6 "2016-01-16T17:07:28Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > So after all these years, I decided to research it on google and lo and behold it’s from a poem by Francis William Bourdillon (b. 1852). > > “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” > > "THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes, > And the day but one; > Yet the light of the bright world dies > With the dying sun. > > The mind has a thousand eyes, 5 > And the heart but one; > Yet the light of a whole life dies > When love is done." > > Kinda depressing IMO, but **my question is should/need attribution have been given**? > > Thanks > > Q Bourdillon might have wanted to give attribution to [Esaias Tegnér](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esaias_Tegn%C3%A9r). From [_Frithiofs saga_](http://runeberg.org/fritiofs/02.html) (1822): > [@](#): > > Lyd kungen! _En_ skall styra med kraft och vett; > skum natt har många ögon, men dagen ett. Translated: Obey the king! _One_ shall rule with power and wisdom; dark night has many eyes, but the day one. Actually, I don’t quite get the simile here; and it sounds a bit like Sauron speaking; but it seems clear to me this is where Bourdillon got it from! ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/7 "2016-01-16T17:16:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Don’t know the answer, just dropping by to say hello. How ya doin’ Quasi? Ditto, **Quasi**! ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/8 "2016-01-16T19:22:28Z")
That would really be disconcerting…I know it’s a metaphor, but can you picture going outside at night, looking up, and see a thousand eyes looking back at you??! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/9 "2016-01-16T19:26:08Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > That would really be disconcerting…I know it’s a metaphor, but can you picture going outside at night, looking up, and see a thousand eyes looking back at you??! :eek: ‘Picture’? What do you mean, ‘picture’? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/10 "2016-01-17T00:40:58Z")
Good to see you Quasi. I was thinking of you just a few days ago. Sorry to hear about your wife. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Knig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/cdc98d/32.png) [@Typo\_Knig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Knig)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/11 "2016-01-17T02:09:16Z")
**Quasi** it is **GREAT** to hear from you! I am so very sorry your Mrs. is sick. Please let us know if there is anything we can do to help. Cool song. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/12 "2016-01-17T03:38:27Z")
> [@Quasimodem](#): > > Ever since I heard this song in my teens, in addition to liking it, I have always wondered about the title. Was it from a movie, was it a quote? It seemed like such an unusual title for a song, that I wondered where the writer the idea for it. > > Here it is from YouTube (it’s performed by Bobby Vee): > > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tNCKKX2eAM](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0tNCKKX2eAM). > > So after all these years, I decided to research it on google and lo and behold it’s from a poem by Francis William Bourdillon (b. 1852). > > “The Night Has A Thousand Eyes” > > "THE NIGHT has a thousand eyes, > And the day but one; > Yet the light of the bright world dies > With the dying sun. > > The mind has a thousand eyes, 5 > And the heart but one; > Yet the light of a whole life dies > When love is done." > > Kinda depressing IMO, but my question is should/need attribution have been given? > > Thanks > > Q The Bourdillon poem seems to be a contemplation on the emotional hazards of romantic love. The song, OTOH, looks like a guy telling his gal: “I can’t stop you from sneaking around behind my back, but don’t kid yourself that it’s never going to get back to me.” The songwriter MAY have gotten inspired by reading the poem and thinking the phrase would make a good hook, but that seems to be where the correlation goes away. I wouldn’t think any attribution would be necessary, under the circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/13 "2016-01-17T04:09:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > ‘Picture’? What do you mean, ‘picture’? :eek: In the words of John Lennon, “Imagine.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/14 "2016-01-17T05:52:01Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > In the words of John Lennon, “Imagine.” As I said. ‘Imagine’? What do you mean ‘imagine’? :eek: ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/15 "2016-01-17T06:20:47Z")
I mean imagine a thousand eyes looking down at you from the dark night sky! ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/16 "2016-01-17T08:05:20Z")
It makes me think of movie themes like Gene Pitney’s “Town Without Pity”. ---
**Author:** ![Not\_Carlson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc79bd/32.png) [@Not\_Carlson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_Carlson)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/17 "2016-01-17T15:08:19Z")
> [@Ignotus](#): > > Bourdillon might have wanted to give attribution to [Esaias Tegnér](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esaias_Tegn%C3%A9r). From [_Frithiofs saga_](http://runeberg.org/fritiofs/02.html) (1822): > > Translated: > Obey the king! _One_ shall rule with power and wisdom; > dark night has many eyes, but the day one. > > Actually, I don’t quite get the simile here; and it sounds a bit like Sauron speaking; but it seems clear to me this is where Bourdillon got it from! Wow, that is impressive! Without having read anything of the saga beyond the portion that you referenced, I’d say it’s about the conventional wisdom of following a single leader for direction and safety in life; akin to 1 Corinthians 8: 5-6: _For even if there are so-called gods whether in heaven or on earth, as indeed there are many gods and many lords, yet for us there is but one God …_ From the following link, it appears to be a father giving his son some sagely advice. [Honor the King — for on this earth one man should reign alone. The sable night hath many eyes — the brighter day but one.](https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=VuVGAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA369&dq=%22Esaias+Tegn%C3%A9r%22+%22The+sable+night+hath+many+eyes%22&hl=ja&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiS1bbxibHKAhVE6aYKHQHHByoQ6AEIJDAB#v=onepage&q=%22Esaias%20Tegn%C3%A9r%22%20%22The%20sable%20night%20hath%20many%20eyes%22&f=false) The allusion to the “many eyes” of the night is almost certainly a simile for the stars of the night sky which, while numerous, are not as bright as the singular light of the sun by day. Dad is probably warning his son that, although there are many paths he might take in life, and many people he might look to for guidance, he should follow the leadership of his king if he wants to tread the sure path and not go astray. And **Johny** , if you really are seeing a thousand eyes watching you when you look up at the night sky, just give em’ a charming wink. Then tell me if they wink back. Best wishes to \*\*Quasi \*\*and Mrs Quasi. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/18 "2016-01-17T15:37:27Z")
If they wink back? That would be disconcerting too… :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/19 "2016-01-17T16:19:03Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > I mean imagine a thousand eyes looking down at you from the dark night sky! Jokes are never funny when you have to explain them. You said ‘picture’ and ‘imagine’. My replies were meant to indicate I don’t _have to_ imagine, because I really do see a thousand eyes looking at me in the night sky. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332/20 "2016-01-17T16:29:05Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#): > > Jokes are never funny when you have to explain them. > > You said ‘picture’ and ‘imagine’. My replies were meant to indicate I don’t _have to_ imagine, because I really do see a thousand eyes looking at me in the night sky. I kept wondering what John Lennon had to do with it all. And do we need to consider _which_ 500 people (or critters) are doing the watching or observing or spying or snooping? Or is it just some random eyes with no connection to each other. How about 500 Private Detectives? 🙂 And what if at least one of them is a Cyclops or wears an eye patch or has a glass eye? The math could get strange indeed. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-night-has-a-thousand-eyes/743332.md?page=2)