☝️ Key Points
- The song is about intense feelings of desire and infatuation that the singer feels for a person
- The singer plays with fantasies where he and the beloved person are together and plans to reveal his interest
- The chorus emphasizes the intense desire and the singer's inability to hide his feelings. 'Hungry eyes' symbolize the strong desire
- The singer wants to be closer to the beloved person and show them his definition of love
- The song ends with the hope that the beloved person can recognize and share his feelings
Interpretation
The lyrics of 'Hungry Eyes' by
Eric Carmen are about intense, almost ravenous feelings of desire and infatuation. The singer talks about his strong feelings for a person that he can no longer hide. He feels that these emotions are so strong that they won't subside ('I've got this feelin' that won't subside').
He looks at this person and creates fantasies in his head ('I look at you and I fantasize'), where they are together. The words 'You're mine tonight' and 'Now I've got you in my sights' show that he plans to reveal his feelings and get closer to the person.
The chorus, 'With these hungry eyes, One look at you and I can't disguise, I've got hungry eyes, I feel the magic between you and I', emphasizes the singer's intense desire and need for this person. The 'hungry eyes' symbolize his strong desire and his inability to hide his feelings.
In the line 'I want to hold you so hear me out, I want to show you what love's all about', the singer expresses the desire to not only be physically close to the loved one, but also to show them his definition of love.
The song ends with the singer expressing his hope that the loved one can also recognize and share his feelings ('I need you to see, This love was meant to be'). Overall, 'Hungry Eyes' is a song about unrequited love and the strong desire to share and have that love reciprocated.