Open Your Eyes

Cat in the Hat

Bobby followed his 1978 debut with Cat in the Hat, released on Clouds in 1980. He produced it with Steve Kimball and wrote or co-wrote every song, sharing the credit on “Open Your Eyes” with B. Malament. The album’s single, “Coming Down from Love,” reached No. 42 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 28 on the R&B chart.

“Open Your Eyes” sits second on side two: three minutes and 43 seconds of staccato piano, steady drums and Bobby’s voice urging someone to stop holding love at arm’s length.

“The Light”

In 2000, J Dilla built Common’s “The Light” on a sample of “Open Your Eyes,” keeping its piano and Bobby’s voice and adding drums from the Detroit Emeralds’ “You’re Gettin’ a Little Too Smart.” Bobby shares the song’s writing credit.

Released in July 2000 as the second single from Like Water for Chocolate, the song was a love letter to Common’s then-girlfriend, Erykah Badu. It reached No. 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 – Common’s first appearance on that chart – and No. 12 on the R&B/Hip-Hop chart, and it was nominated for the Grammy for Best Rap Solo Performance. Looking back, Common said that was when he “felt the song was reaching people I had never reached before.”

“Brother Bobby loved it”

“The Light” almost didn’t happen. After Bobby’s death in March 2023, Questlove recalled telling Common they should drop the beat because it wasn’t “Dilla enough.” Common heard something in it and wanted to write to it. “I got word Brother Bobby loved it like in 2001,” Questlove wrote, calling the meetings that never happened “such a missed opportunity to meet a legend.”

Common paid his own tribute, sharing a clip of “Open Your Eyes” on Instagram: “I can’t thank you enough! May God bless the soul of Bobby Caldwell!”

Sampled again

Others followed Dilla’s lead. Kendrick Lamar used “Open Your Eyes” on “R.O.T.C. (Interlude),” with BJ the Chicago Kid, from his 2010 mixtape Overly Dedicated. Little Brother sampled it for “Sittin’ Alone,” produced by Nottz and Phonte, on their 2019 comeback album May the Lord Watch.

“The Light” itself keeps being handed down. In 2026, J. Cole interpolated it on “I Love Her Again,” from The Fall-Off, and Kendrick Lamar referenced it on Baby Keem’s “Good Flirts.”

Back on vinyl

In 2023, Be With Records reissued Cat in the Hat on LP after years out of print. For Valentine’s Day 2025, the label also reissued the famous heart-shaped red vinyl single of “What You Won’t Do for Love”, this time with “Open Your Eyes” on the flip side in place of the original B-side, “Love Won’t Wait.”