Songfacts®:

• Back in 2014, Sam Smith pined for the lover who left their bed after a one-night stand on "Stay With Me" but wasn't really in love. Eight years later, the singer fell for fashion designer Christian Cowan, who inspired the 2026 album Hazel Eyes. On the single "My Guy," Smith gushes about their boyfriend and tells everyone else to keep their hands off, singing, "You can dream it all that you want, but you can't have my boy."
  
  "This is a song that I feel I have been waiting a lifetime to write and sing," Smith explained. "Written with beautiful friends on a summer's day in New York, this one fell out of the sky. In this sometimes cold and distant world, I hope you can feel the love and the closeness of this recording. I tried to capture the glow and the warmth of love in this one, it makes me cry, maybe it will make you feel a little love too."
• Smith wrote this with their longtime collaborator Simon Aldred, along with indie-pop songstress Feist and Shahzad Ismaily of Mark Ribot's trio Ceramic Dog. Feist and multi-instrumentalist Ismaily also performed on the song, along with several other tracks on the album.
• The soulful balladeer worried over how their newfound happiness would affect their songwriting but soon learned that pain isn't the only source of meaning. "[The album] showed me that being vulnerable isn't just about exposing your pain - it can be just as vulnerable to be openly romantic," they said. "And in the world we're living in right now, singing about queer love with complete honesty and directness feels very important."
• Smith and Cowan were both born in England, but New York City serves as the backdrop to their love story on Hazel Eyes. Smith moved from London to The Big Apple in 2024 to be with Cowan and felt the city gave them the freedom to exist as a queer couple. The music video for "My Guy," directed by Haya Waseem, was also shot in New York City. The clip follows Smith on a laidback day with his lover as they cuddle in their apartment and engage in PDA on the street.
• "My Guy" is also the title of a hit 1964 single by Mary Wells, where the Motown singer shares a similar sentiment about nobody being able to separate her from her man.