"Dry Your Eyes" is a single by English rapper and producer Mike Skinner under the music project the Streets. The song describes the protagonist trying to cope with his girlfriend breaking up with him. It was released in the UK on 19 July 2004. The song is the Streets' most successful single, reaching number one in the United Kingdom on 25 July 2004, six days after its release. "Dry Your Eyes" also went straight to number one in Ireland staying there for three weeks in a row. In Australia, the song was ranked number 19 on Triple J's Hottest 100 of 2004. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 87 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".

Music structure

"Dry Your Eyes" is composed in the key of A major. It is written in common time and moves at a slow tempo of 80 beats per minute. The song is carried by a first inversion triad. The radio edit of the song, lasting 3:22, omits the bridge and third verse. The official video uses this edit. However, some radio edits move the interlude after the second chorus to the beginning of the song. The melody was taken straight from a royalty-free samples CD released in 1999. A plagiarism claim by unknown artist Epic was reported in the press in 2004, but no case was ever made.

Critical reception

Leonie Cooper of NME called "those violins, bringing all of the emotions" the best part of the song. Tony Naylor of NME called the song, "a hairs-on-the-back-of-your-neck ballad for jilted lovers" and stated, "rarely has Skinner sounded so vulnerable, poignant and, well, normal."

Track listings

UK CD1 UK CD2 and Australian CD single

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

Release history

Cover versions