Innocent Eyes (D Goodrem/V Pizzinga), and Not Me, Not I (G Barlow/K DioGuardi/D Goodrem/E Kennedy/J Rogers) – Delta Goodrem 2003
The title track, off the album, Innocent Eyes, was the third single lifted off the album and it charted in June 2003, the song was recorded in Los Angeles and Melbourne and produced by American John Fields who had previously worked with Miley Cyrus, Demi Lovato and Soul Asylum, it was co-composed by Goodrem and American Vince Pizzinga who had written songs for Michael Bolton and Natalie Imbruglia, and would become a trusted confidante within Delta’s inner circle in the future. Below L-R – Delta and Vince Pizzinga, John Fields, and Jarrad Rogers.
The lyrics are pointedly autobiographical as the singer recalls learning how to play the piano as a child, the emotional impact of her recital on her parents (Delta’s parents Lea and Denis were to separate), her cherished memories of childhood and a longing to retain something of those more innocent days of her youth “Seems I’m lost in my reflection … Find a star for my direction… For the little girl inside who won’t just hide … Do you remember when you were fifteen/ And the kids at school called you a fool ‘cause you took the chance to dream/ In the time that’s past and the one thing that will last/ Is the same old song we played along and made my daddy cry.”
Opening piano chords segue to percussion, cello by Ameena Khawaja provides dramatic notes, drums and percussion by Dorian Crozier and Billy Hawn anchor the beat and guitars by Phil Solem and Mike Ruekberg rounded out a solid pop song.
The promo video depicted Delta looking into a mirror as she sings, intercut with images of a young girl playing at home, dress-ups, miming and then actually seated in front of the mirror, and in the closing shot turning to see Goodrem standing in the doorway, she runs into her arms and the two images of the same person are finally merged into one. This was the third #1 single from the album, it was also top ten in NZ, the UK and in Europe, and sold in excess of 200,000 copies.
By now the album Innocent Eyes was a blockbuster success and when the fourth single lifted from it, Not Me, Not I, also went to #1 in Australia and top 20 in the UK for sales in excess of 100,000, Delta Goodrem had become a bona fide international success story, and she was only nineteen. Below L-R – Delta and Gary Barlow, Kara DioGuardi, Eliot Kennedy.
This pop ballad was written by a medley of well-credentialed tunesmiths including Goodrem, Gary Barlow, Kara DioGuardi, Eliot Kennedy, and Jarrad Rogers. Barlow was the former front-man for British boyband Take That and had been personally responsible for thirteen #1 UK hits and his records had sold over 50 million copies, DioGuardi was an American singer-songwriter who had previously written songs for Aussies The Veronicas, Natalie Imbruglia, Kylie Minogue (Spinning Around) and Bardot, as well as for Britney Spears, Hilary Duff, and Celine Dion. Eliot Kennedy was an English composer/arranger who had previously written for Take That, the Spice Girls, Bryan Adams, Lulu, and Human Nature, and Jarrad Rogers was an Australian writer/producer who had previously worked with Daniel Merriweather, Guy Sebastian, Jimmy Barnes, and Boyzone.
Piano and strings open proceedings, subtle percussion merges into the arrangement, there is an air of mystery and intrigue about the music and the video, Delta appears in a hooded gown, plays piano in a candle-lit room, the lighting is subtle, gloomy, some of the nocturnal imagery is almost Meatloaf-inspired, albeit without the motorcycles and florid anthemic choruses, endlessly repeated.
A more mature Delta used her emphatic soprano voice skillfully and with restraint to produce one of her most nuanced singles to date, and it seemed that she was personally invested in this song, inspired after she had split with her Neighbours co-star Blair McDonough, after she found out about his infidelity with another cast member. Below- Delta and Blair McDonough
At this time Goodrem’s future plans were disrupted when she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma, and forced to defer all work commitments and undertake chemotherapy treatment for the cancer, after she had completed filming of the promo video for Not Me, Not I.
4The Record 