the song was a bolero, written in 1929 and recorded in cuba the same year. the english version of the song, written in 1931, became a major hit ten years later when recorded by the jimmy dorsey orchestra. on 78 rpm records, "green eyes" was backed by "maria elena", which was also a hit.the record first reached the "billboard" charts on may 9, 1941 and lasted 21 weeks on the chart, peaking at #1. both numbers have been covered many times, especially in latin music circles.