Aquellos Ojos Verdes (Green Eyes)

"Aquellos Ojos Verdes" is a popular song, originally written in Spanish.

Fellow Cuban Adolfo Utrera (Habana 1901 – New York 1931), a well-known tenor part of a core of singers recording consistently with Enrico Madriguera, supplied the lyrics.

The melody, a bolero, was written by Cuban pianist Nilo Menéndez. The song was recorded in 1929 in Cuba.

Aquellos Ojos Verdes (Green Eyes)

It was the only major hit, both originally in Cuba and then again in the Latin community in New York.

Adolfo Utrera

"Green Eyes", the English translation was made by Eddie Rivera and Eddie Woods in 1931.

Nilo Menendez

The English version did not become a major hit till ten years later when recorded by the Jimmy Dorsey Orchestra. The recording was made on March 19, 1941 with vocals by Helen O'Connell and Bob Eberly and released by Decca Records.

Dorsey, O'Connell & Eberly

The record first reached the Billboard charts on May 9, 1941 and lasted 21 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1.

Nilo Menéndez born in Matanzas, Cuba in 1902, composer, pianist and orchestra leader came to the United States in 1924. He is best known for "Green Eyes," one of the most popular songs of the World War II era. It became a longtime resident of the Hit Parade.

Nilo Menendez

Menendez also wrote for films and led bands at various nightclubs around town, including the Mocambo and Clover Club, before moving to Aberdeen, Washington, where vocalist Ginny Simms had opened a club. He played there until 1981, when he retired and returned to the Los Angeles area. He died in Burbank, September 15, 1987.

Alfredo Utrera & Nilo Menendez

Aquellos Ojos Verdes

    Fueron tus ojos los que me dieron,
    el tema dulce de mi cancion,
    Tus ojos verdes claros serenos,
    Ojos que han sido mi inspiracion.

    Aquellos ojos verdes
    de mirada serena,
    dejaron en mi alma
    eterna sed de amar.

    Anhelos de caricias,
    de besos y ternuras.
    De todas las dulzuras
    que sabían brindar.

    Aquellos ojos verdes,
    serenos como un lago,
    en cuyas quietas aguas
    un día me miré.
    No saben las tristezas
    que en mi alma han dejado

    Aquellos ojos verdes,
    que yo nunca besaré.

    No saben las tristezas
    que en mi alma han dejado
    Aquellos ojos verdes,
    que yo nunca olvidaré.
    Aquellos ojos verdes,
    que yo nunca olvidaré.

    Aquellos ojos verdes
    serenos como un lago
    en cuyas quietas aguas
    un día me miré,
    no saben las tristezas
    que a mi alma le dejaron
    aquellos ojos verdes
    que yo nunca besaré

Green eyes

Green Eyes

    Those green eyes
    with their serene gaze,
    they left in my soul
    eternal thirst to love.

    yearning for caresses,
    for kisses and tenderness.
    for all the sweetness
    that they knew how to offer.

    Those green eyes,
    serene like a lake,
    in whose calm waters
    one day i saw myself
    They do not know the sadness
    that in my soul they have left

    Those green eyes,
    that I never will kiss.

    They do not know the sadness
    that in my soul they have left
    Those green eyes,
    that I never will forget.
    Those green eyes,
    that I never will forget.

    Those green eyes,
    serene like a lake,
    in whose calm waters
    one day i saw myself
    They do not know the sadness
    that in my soul they have left
    those green eyes
    that I never will kiss

Green Eyes, cover