Critical Reception
Elizabeth Scott of Sky Living praised the song, writing "while Clarkson is doing well musically, her love life still hasn't picked up and she is heartbroken once again. I'm sure the thought of another top ten hit might cheer her up!" Scott Juba of The Trades considered "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as the highlight of the album, writing "Now that a few years older than she was when she recorded her first album, she brings more authenticity to relationship songs." Ewan Sawdey of PopMatters compared "Don't Let Me Stop You" (2009) with "Behind These Hazel Eyes" saying that the former "may sound like another rewrite of an older Clarkson hit (in this case, "Behind These Hazel Eyes"), but the observational lyrics about a questionable relationship are what ultimately makes the whole thing click." Charles Merwin of Stylus Magazine felt that the song should sell records more because "the entire musical backing drops out to let Clarkson’s voice through to live or die on its own." Pam Avoledo of Blogcritics believed that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was superior to the writing of "Since U Been Gone", commenting that "It's punchier, well-written and gives Clarkson a chance to show off her vocal skills without the trendy haughtiness."
In a different perspective, Joe Cross of Cox Communications thought that "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was a decent follow-up to "Since U Been Gone", saying "It's no "Since U Been Gone," which is just a pop-rock juggernaut, but as follow-ups go, it's not too shabby. Clarkson's down-home everything (well, mostly her looks) sells these little heartbreak haikus exceptionally well." He also listed "Behind These Hazel Eyes" as one of the 40 songs that defined the summer of 2005. Maria DiLorenzo of Yahoo! ranked "Behind These Hazel Eyes" at number four in her list of "Top Ten Kelly Clarkson Song of the Decade", writing "beautiful crooning and yes once again an elegant old world romantic video to go along with it. You have no choice but to be enamored by the combination." Chris Kal of WKNS ranked "Behind These Hazel Eyes" at number four in his list of "Top 10 Summer Songs From 2005". Sam Lamsky of PopCrush described the song as "a surefire fan favorite" and ranked it at number nine in his list of "Top 10 Kelly Clarkson songs". Bill Lamb of About.com put the song at number 62 on his list of "Top 100 Pop Songs of 2005". At the 24th ASCAP Pop Music Awards, the song was honored with the Most Performed Songs award. On January 2010, "Behind These Hazel Eyes" was the fifth most played song of the last decade by American Idol performers. The song was nominated in the category for Song of the Year: Mainstream Hit Radio in the 2005 Radio Music Awards.
Read more about this topic: Behind These Hazel Eyes
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