Eyes Wide Open was first released as a single in October 2010. The song also appeared on Gotye’s critically acclaimed 2011 album Making Mirrors, which went on to win a 2013 Grammy Award for “Best Alternative Music Album”. Although positively reviewed, the song did not experience the same commercial success as “Somebody that I used to know”.

This song is written from the perspective of a dystopic future looking back at the ecological destruction caused to the Earth by the present day generation, thus creating the future dystopia that the song refers to.

More specifically, the song is likely a reference to the unwillingness of the present day generation to take concerted action to prevent climate change cause by the combustion of fossil fuels and greenhouse gas emissions.