Meaning of “My Eyes” by Travis Scott (ft. Sampha & Bon Iver)
“My Eyes” is one of two tracks on Travis Scott’s LP “Utopia” to feature Bon Iver, representing the first time the rapper has ever dropped songs with Justin Vernon’s act. Both of those tracks were released as part of the album, through Epic Records and Cactus Jack, on 28 July 2023.
To note, this is also Travis’s first song with Sampha, a singer from the UK who has worked with the likes of Drake and Kanye West, to notable success, in the past.
It is Travis Scott and Justin Vernon who wrote and produced “My Eyes”, as did Vegyn, Wheezy and WondaGurl and Buddy Ross. An artist known simply as Dua also contributed to the writing of this song.
The Lyrics of “My Eyes”
The first verse, as rendered by Scott, isn’t the easiest to understand, outside of what reads like a poetic reference to the rapper’s preference for marijuana.
But the lengthy third verse, i.e. the sole verse of part two of “My Eyes”, is a lot easier to comprehend. And most simply put it is braggadocious in nature, with Travis not only dropping a number of allusions to his wealth but also, to a lesser extent, pointing to his ability to put others on to the game.
And there really isn’t anything being relayed that we haven’t heard before, outside of “Scotty” insinuating that if he had the opportunity, during that whole Astroworld disaster he would have “save(d) him a child”. That statement would presumably be in acknowledgement of the late Ezra Blount, i.e. the nine-year old boy who was trampled to death during the ensuing mayhem.
As for Justin Vernon’s vocal contribution, he’s in charge of the pre-chorus, which on the surface reads sorta as if it is directed towards a romantic interest. But a more careful listen reveals that whomever it is he’s singing to is somebody that the singer has seemingly made some type of commitment to or established a lifelong relationship with, yet is taking him to a dark place.
And Sampha’s terse participation – i.e. second verse, which only consists of three lines – rather seems to be biggin’ up this unnamed addressee as someone who ‘gets him by’, i.e. serves as a support system.
“My Eyes”
Meanwhile, the term “my eyes” pops up four times in the song. The first couple of instances are found in the chorus, where Travis claims that there are ’10,000 on his eyes’. In conjunction with the line that precedes that statement, it may be that the rapper is relaying that he’s looking at a bunch of money, i.e. $10,000, ‘spreaded on his seat’.
The next couple of utterances, as found in part two, read like an invitation to the listener to take an intimate look at Scott’s lifestyle though, in the grand scheme of things, the lyrics don’t read as if they’re too personal or intimate.
There are also references to Jenner regarding their falling out and the way it transpired. He goes on to mention the “green and yellow” drip in her eyes is telling of XY and Z of their falling out. That is a reference to an interview that was done where she asked what the color of her eyes were and he noted that they were green and yellow