From Scalpels to Studio: Billy Idol's Horror Muse

By Shriyaa Madan Gopal

This article is a murder article. Not literally, I didn’t take the Halloween theme that far. But the words, “this song is a murder song,” was what Billy Idol used to tell people when describing his classic 80s hit, ‘Eyes without a Face.’

With its distinct synth and guitar riffs, the song has certainly made its influence on New-wave synth pop music. However, behind this dark ballad, there is a past, or rather, a girl named Christiane, and her descent into madness to be unmasked. The hit single was inspired by the 1960 French film ‘Les yeux sans visage’ that directly translates to ‘Eyes without a face.’

‘Les yeux sans visage’ (rated M in Australia) is a poetic and visually striking film following a young girl named Christiane, and her father, a brilliant yet mad surgeon, and his plan to ‘save her,’ after a car accident leaves her horribly disfigured. This film explores themes of obsession, guilt, moral decay and the superficiality of beauty. With its psychological dread over jumpscares, and its ethereal visuals,

‘Les yeux sans visage’ is most definitely a standout when it comes to horror movies. (Warning: according to IMDb this movie contains moderate gore, violence, and intense and frightening scenes.)

In Billy Idol’s memoir, ‘Dancing with Myself’ (2014), Idol shares his fascination with old black and white horror films, and the parallels between the old film and his life in New York in the 1980s, where he had similar experiences with moral decay. He claims, “I started to use ‘Eyes Without a Face’ as a possible title/lyric/chorus for the song. I began to write words that, in some disguised form, spoke about my life in New York and a relationship gone wrong, on the edge of disintegrating into madness.”

The lyrics of Idol’s song reflects a relationship gone wrong, and on the verge of disintegration. He described this song as an “anti-love song,” as he intentionally wanted to write a song that was completely different to the emotional and soppy love songs that were trending at the time. His claim of “this song is a murder song” was about how he murdered his own love story with Perri Lister, his girlfriend at the time. In the song, there are moments where Lister actually provides backing vocals as she starts a call and response, between her singing the lyrics ‘Les yeux sans visage,’ with Billy Idol following with ‘Eyes without a face,’ a recurring reference to the 1960 film.

The music video has a distinct contrast between visual styles and scenes, as there are moments of soft, dreamy close ups, and more intense scenes of him, in shadowy, abstract settings to represent his isolation. The music video's visuals often contrast gentleness with aggression, reflecting Idol’s inner conflict between vulnerability and anger. 

Both the film and the song explore the emotional cost of losing one's identity, whether it be through emotional detachment or physical disfigurement. Both Idol and Christiane’s stories portray the pain of being seen, but not truly known. In the end, they both remain as just eyes without a face.