Say Anything... and the Usage of "In Your Eyes"
On one of the most iconic needle drops in American film.
John Cusack holding up a boombox at dawn outside his car in Cameron Crowe’s directorial debut Say Anything… is arguably the most iconic image of ‘80s teen cinema, and certainly one of the most iconic images in American cinema as a whole. Said boombox is playing Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes”, a song considered to be one of the most romantic in all of pop. The character of Lloyd Dobler plays that song outside of the house of his ex-girlfriend Diane Court (Ione Skye) as she wakes up, to let her know he has not given up on her, that he is still there for her. After dozens of phone calls that she has not answered due to her own troubles and her nervousness about maintaining a long distance relationship, “In Your Eyes” is that hope, that even after all of the garbage, after all of the miscommunication, and bad words said to each other, that they can find a way to make it all up.
It’s all in the lyrics. That pre-chorus is just magic, “All my instincts, they return / And the grand facade so soon will burn”. After a verse describing how tired he is of feeling so distraught trying to fix the relationship, looking in the eyes of his partner reminds him of why he’s so in love and determined to make it all work. A perfect summation of why Lloyd is playing that song.
While that is the film’s most iconic moment, my favorite needle drop of that song is in a scene much earlier in the movie, where Lloyd and Diane make love for the first time. They are in the back of his blue Chevy Malibu, on a Washington beach, with the waves crashing as they kiss underneath a blanket. What’s most obvious about why this movie works so well is that John Cusack and Ione Skye have some of the greatest chemistry I’ve seen from an American film of this era. Their relationship has been short, only four weeks or so, but the way they look at each other feels like they’ve been together all of their life, like they have found their soulmate in one another. They kiss like it’s the last time they’ll ever kiss, knowing that their future is uncertain because of her eventual voyage to England.
So when they’re sharing this moment of intimacy for the first time, when you can tell Lloyd is so nervous that he’s shaking, Peter Gabriel’s “In Your Eyes” is playing in the background, and it seems like a reassurance that everything will be okay in this moment. A man being nervous and vulnerable at the notion of sex when it’s about to happen is something that’s rarely shown in movies, and seeing them try to make each other more comfortable during this intimate moment just by looking at and holding one another is beautiful. He asks her if she’s uncomfortable, she holds him in her arms and tells him to listen to the song. A beautiful, romantic song about falling back in love when they look at each other in their eyes.
The secret to Say Anything…’s romance and character development is its music. When Lloyd and Diane take a drive together, helping a drunken teenager get back home, they bond over a commercial-free rock marathon on the radio. Everyone is shown to be joyfully dancing to or listening to music at least once in the film whether it be on vinyl or in the background at a party. Everyone is listening to side character Corey (Lili Taylor)’s earnest break-up songs when they are at said party. Both “In Your Eyes” scenes are no exception to music playing a huge part in the film. The boombox scene only becomes more powerful once the more intimate moments in the car set to that song are remembered. He’s tried talking to her, but has gotten no response. He can only communicate now through the music they have loved and shared together, a song that reminds them both of how close and in love they were.