Blind | 5ive Songs

In the 46^th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with being BLIND in some form or fashion.

Welcome to 5ive Songs, where we keep things short and sweet – no extra calories or needless fluff! There’s a theme/topic, five songs, and a short blurb.  Yes, it’s a playlist, but it’s a miniature playlist that shouldn’t take much time to consume.  In the 46^th edition of 5ive Songs (2022), we select five songs that are associated with being BLIND in some form or fashion.  Okay, let’s get into it!

1. The Weeknd, “Blinding Lights”

💿 After Hours • 🏷 Republic • 🗓 2020

The best song from 💿 After Hours, as well as the best song of 2020, is 🎵 “Blinding Lights”.  The former Billboard Hot 100 no. 1 hit is an epic pop song. It commences enigmatically with a minor key (eventually settling into major) and moody synths.  This is before the groove settles in, one of the biggest selling points. There’s plenty to ❤ about this single, starting with its pop/pop-rock vibe. 🎛 Max Martin and 🎛 Oscar Holter produce alongside The Weeknd.

“Blinding Lights” features beautiful vocals, the form is straightforward, while the centerpiece should come as no surprise – the chorus:

“I said, ooh, I’m blinded by the lights

No, I can’t sleep until I feel your touch

I said, ooh, I’m drowning in the night
Oh, when I’m like this, you’re the one I trust

Hey, hey hey.”

Thematically, The Weekend focuses on love, relationships, and sex – predictable, but always effective. All in all, “Blinding Lights” is superb, showing his versatility on this sick, utterly infectious, pop record.

Appears in 🔻:

• 11 Awesome Songs: December 2019
• 51 Best Songs of 2020 (So Far): Year in Review
• 100 BEST SONGS OF 2020
• The Weeknd, After Hours: 4GEMZ 💎 4 (2021)
• Light: 5ive Songs No. 75 (2021)

2. ROLE MODEL, “blind”

💿 our little angel – EP • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2020

“I haven’t felt a thing this year / And I’m only tryin’ to be sincere.” 🎙 ROLE MODEL, the tatted, pop singer from Maine, references a girl that’s eliminated numbness on 🎵 “blind” (💿 our little angel – EP). From the start, ROLE MODEL sets the tone of “blind,” painting a portrait of the most gorgeous girl you’ve ever seen.  “She got the gold hoops, Prada fit / I’m in love with all of it,” he sings, longing for this specimen.  For good measure, at the end of the first verse, he adds, “You make everyone look like they aren’t anyone.” In the second verse, he points out how this nameless, Prada girl is similar to him, particularly when it comes to that thing known as the plight of love:

“I stay pretty numb, never fell for anyone

You seem similar, always end up getting hurt.”

Between the verses, following the pre-chorus, we get to the biggest moment, the irresistibly delicious chorus, where ROLE MODEL professes his feelings.  Ultimately, he states, “I think I’m going blind; I hope it doesn’t change / ‘Cause I’ve never seen something quite like you.” Regardless of whether he’s found true love or the latest flavor of the month, only time will tell, but what he sings about is quite relatable, period. 

3. Kelis, “Blindfold Me” (Ft. Nas)

💿 Kelis Was Here • 🏷 LaFace • 🗓 2006

“When he want it he blindfolds me / Then I get sexy on him, get sexy on him.” Now that’s a day-um quote, 🎙 Kelis.  On 🎵 “Blindfold Me” from her 2006 album, 💿 Kelis Was Here, the sex is pronounced.  She’s not shy about how it goes down, coming off incredibly assertive when it comes to ‘making it do.’ “Had to show him what a pro I was,” she sings in the first verse, continuing, “I was headed for the light, he refused to take a bite / Till I put my blindfolders on.” That’s some kinky 💩 right there, but that’s how she wants it… In the second verse, she describes his performance, and well, it’s safe to say it’s breathtaking (“Bout the third or fourth time you ain’t had to do that”).

Worth noting, her ex-husband, 🎙 Nas, arrives as the featured guest in the third verse.  Of course, it’s sexed-up: “The bed is the Bentley, I’m doing the steering.” And, fittingly, there’s a BSDM element in play:

“Though you fine, I like to cover up half your face

If you blind and can’t see what I’m ‘bout to do

The suspense so intense won’t allow you to move

Gonna surprise you, like Hugh Grant in 8 and a half weeks…”

Expectedly, the music video is sexy. That said, being released in 2006 and not the 2010s or 2020s, it’s not extremely explicit – more suggestive.  Don’t get it twisted though – still titillating! It’s safe to say that Kelis likes it freaky, baby!

Appears in 🔻:

• Kelis, “Blindfold Me”: After Dark No. 18 (2021)

4. DaBaby, “Blind” (Ft. Young Thug)

💿 BLAME IT ON BABY (DELUXE) • 🏷 Interscope • 📅 2020

🎵 “BLIND,” which appears on 💿 BLAME IT ON BABY (DELUXE), is the first song from the deluxe version that feels like there’s hit potential.  Here, 🏆 Grammy-nominated rapper 🎙 DaBaby gets the assist from fellow 🏆 Grammy nominee, 🎙 Young Thug, who always brings intrigue and quirkiness to the track. “BLIND” doesn’t ‘go hard’ like the opening trio of the deluxe, opting for more of a pop, contemporary R&B vibe. Even so, we get the same energy from Baby – animated, in-your-face rhymes.

DaBaby’s best moment comes by way of the chorus, which is an instant hit:

“I just got the key, they let me in, no ID

Doors openin’ up for me and now I see

I’ve been blind for a while now

I’ve been blind for a while now.”

Young Thug gets in on this chorus too, after he drops a colorful, honest second verse (“I’ve been quarantined, livin’ with my kiddies / Tryna teach me how to cha-cha, whoa”).  Never change, Thugga, never change.

5. Etta James, “I’d Rather Go Blind”

💿 Tell Mama • 🏷 UMG Recordings, Inc. • 🗓 1968

“I would rather, I would rather go blind boy / Than to see you walk away from me child.”  Those lyrics hail from the timeless, 🎙 Etta James classic, 🎵 “I’d Rather Go Blind”.  The late, great blues and R&B musician earned a surefire hit with this gem from her 1968 album, 💿 Tell Mama. “Something deep down in my soul said, ‘Cry girl,’ / When I saw you and that girl, walking around.” Intriguing.  James sings with incredible expression and nuance. Furthermore, the music – the arrangement and production – are simply beautiful.  The vintage soul aesthetic is idiomatic of 1960s blues/soul.

From my perspective, thematically, “I’d Rather Go Blind” appears to be about a defunct romantic relationship.  Early on, all indications suggest that that’s the direction Etta James (and her songwriters) were opting for.  “Something told me it was over,” she sings in the first line of the first verse, continuing, “When I saw you and her talking.” That adds up perfectly to an ended relationship.  However, throwing in lyrics like child and even the repeated use of boy open up “I’d Rather Go Blind” to a potentially different interpretation. This is owed to the clever nature of the lyrics.  The other interpretation is perhaps a mother is losing her son and that’s what’s made her feel sad.  I find it to be a slight stretch but songs like “I’d Rather Go Blind” that offer multiple possibilities are truly brilliant.

Appears in 🔻:

• Etta James, “I’d Rather Go Blind”: Throwback Vibez 🕶️🎶 75 (2022)

Blind: 5ive Songs No. 46 (2022) [📷: Brent Faulkner, Clovis Cheminot, Eren Li, Interscope, LaFace, The Musical Hype, OpenClipart-Vectors, Pixabay, Republic, UMG Recordings, Inc.]