Album Cut: Destiny's Child (but it’s Beyoncé) - Brown Eyes | That time Beyoncé worked with Walter Afanasieff

Depending on which version of Destiny's Child's Survivor you picked up, you would have gotten either two or four Beyoncé solo songs. But one which was included on all editions of Survivor was "Brown Eyes".

"Brown Eyes" was a notable song, not just because it was a solo song, but because it was written and produced by Walter Afanasieff, who became widely known via his work with Mariah Carey for 7 of her albums between 1990 and 2001. For me, this union of Beyoncé and Walter was not a surprise, and it certainly wasn't a coincidence, as I always felt that Mathew Knowles was putting in the work to have Beyoncé follow in the commercial footsteps of Mariah Carey. Signing her to Columbia records, the ways in which Destiny's Child would put out remixes of songs with all new music and vocals which featured rappers, having Beyoncé get writing credits on everything (although Mariah actually writes all of her shit). So Beyoncé working with Walter felt par the course.

I'm not a huge fan of the Survivor album, but one song I always liked was "Brown Eyes", in part because it felt like a Mariah song, but also because it tapped into a style of song and a vocal turn from Beyoncé that we didn't always get on albums. It showed that she could really deliver a ballad that felt classic.

Destiny's Child got their big ballad hit with "Emotion". But I always felt that "Brown Eyes" also would have made a great single, and that it was also worthy of inclusion on Beyoncé's Dangerously in Love album. After all, the titular track was originally included on Survivor, so why not move another song over?

Beyoncé's never been big on ballads, especially as singles. There's only really been "Halo", but even that had a tempo and bit of a beat behind it that kinda took it out of being a "Hero", "I Will Always Love You" or "My Heart Will Go On" type of ballad. Even with an album like I Am... Sasha Fierce which featured the most ballads we'd ever seen on a Beyoncé album (a couple of really good ones at that), only one of them was made a single.

In the YouTube comments of the above video, somebody mentions that "Brown Eyes" is big in the Philippines, which doesn't surprise me one bit. The Philippines stan a good ballad.

It truly is a shame "Brown Eyes" wasn't made a single. It's such a nice song, with an almost Disney movie-esque quality to it that makes it feel classic and timeless. And it showed Beyoncé in a light that we rarely see nor hear her in.

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💿 Album review: Destiny's Child's third studio album, Survivor