“Bette Davis Eyes” is a song written and composed by Donna Weiss and Jackie DeShannon in 1974. It was originally recorded by DeShannon in that year for her album New Arrangement but it was made popular by American singer Kim Carnes in 1981 when it spent nine non-consecutive weeks on top of the U.S. Billboard Hot 100. The song was #1 for five weeks, interrupted for just one week by “Stars on 45” before it returned to the top spot for another four weeks and became Billboard‘s biggest hit of the year. The single also reached No. 5 on Billboard‘s Top Tracks charts and No. 26 on the Dance charts.

It was also a No. 1 hit in 21 countries and peaked at No. 10 in the United Kingdom, to date her only Top 40 hit in that country. It also reached No. 2 in Canada for twelve consecutive weeks, and was the No. 2 hit of 1981 in that country after “Stars on 45.” The song won the Grammy Awards for Song of the Year and Record of the Year; it also ranked at No. 12 on Billboard‘s list of the Top 100 songs in the first 50 years of the Billboard Hot 100 chart. Cleopatra Records released a re-recording of the song as a single in 2007.

Bette Davis Eyes • Kim Carnes

Track 1 on Mistaken Identity (1981)

Her hair is Harlow gold
Her lips, a sweet surprise
Her hands are never cold
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

She’ll turn the music on you
You won’t have to think twice
She’s pure as New York snow
She got Bette Davis eyes

And she’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
She got Greta Garbo stand-off sighs
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

She’ll let you take her home
It whets her appetite
She’ll lay you on a throne
She got Bette Davis eyes

She’ll take a tumble on you
Roll you like you were dice
Until you come up blue
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

She’ll expose you
When she snows you
Off your feet with the crumbs she throws you
She’s ferocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

And she’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
All the better just to please you
She’s precocious
And she knows just what it takes to make a pro blush
All the boys think she’s a spy
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

She’ll tease you
She’ll unease you
Just to please you
She’s got Bette Davis eyes
She’ll expose you
When she snows you
‘Cause she knows you
She’s got Bette Davis eyes

Songwriters: Jackie De Shannon, Donna Weiss