Vegas In Your Eyes

by b Schmidt | Nov 8, 2021

Several years back Ray McKenna and I were sitting on the rooftop of his high-rise apartment building in downtown Toronto. Skyscrapers surrounded us as I pulled out my acoustic guitar and tuned it while Ray set up his music recorder.

Songwriting process

Typically in our songwriting sessions one of us would come with a melody, chords, a possible song title or a lyric idea. That day Ray came forward with “Vegas in Your Eyes” and so we talked a bit about what it might mean.

We settled on the idea of someone talking to a close friend who was a dreamer – “You got Vegas in Your Eyes, Vegas in Your Eyes” and so we started with that as the opening of the chorus, with Ray singing over the top of chords I was strumming.

The momentum of that pushed us line by line through to the end of the chorus. Then, it was “now what?” Well, we needed to set up the chorus with the first part of a story – a first verse, that would naturally lead into the chorus.

It was feeling like the song was taking the standard shape of a common pop song arrangement: Intro-verse-chorus-verse-chorus, then a bridge leading into a final chorus. We walked away from the session with a pretty complete song – lyrics, melodies, chords, song structure.

Pushing it over the finish line

Next steps proved more difficult – we tried a guitar-based mix similar to what a pop-rock band would use, but that didn’t feel right. We tried several other genres, none of which seemed to fit. So the song got put on a shelf and we moved onto other ideas.

The song kept popping into my head over the years and so I made the decision to engage an established producer and Shaley Scott as vocalist, who sang not only the lead vocal but also the harmonies and ad-libs.

Track is now available for streaming and purchase on all major music platforms!

Here’s the lyric

Vegas in Your Eyes

Long & lonely highway – as far as you can see.
And now you’re passing Jesus – (all) alone at thirty-three
Is it time to roll the dice – Ride the roulette wheel?

I see Vegas in Your Eyes
I see Vegas in Your Eyes
I feel your pain – You’re chasing a dream that you can’t hide
Let the slot machines go crazy – As you reach for the other side
I see Vegas, Vegas in Your Eyes.

Long forgotten innocence – with nothing left to lose
Searching hard for sunlight – In a way that’s true to you
Time to leave the dust behind – (and) living what is real

Vegas, Vegas, Vegas in your eyes
I see Vegas, I see Vegas, I see Vegas Vegas………