Song: Title: I’d Rather Go Blind
By: Etta James
Text Type: Song
Data read: Term 3
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Brief plot overview
‘I’d rather go blind’ is a blues song written by Ellington Jordan and co-credited to Billy Foster and Etta James. It was first recorded by Etta James in 1967, released in 1968, and has afterwards become regarded as a blues and soul classic. It is a very popular song, even now after 42 years.
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Characters you found interesting and why
In this song, ‘I’d Rather go blind’ it is referring to a woman in a relationship, but which the other person is falling out of love of and she doesn’t want him to go. And also who can’t go seeing that person with someone else and to walk away from her and their relationship, as this is shown in the line, “I would rather go blind boy, Than to see you, walk away from me child, no” I cannot relate to this as I haven’t been through a situation like this but I believe it is very common in society and this song shows the point of view of the person who does still love that person, but coming to a realisation that it is only one sided. “So you see, I love you so much” “That I don’t want to watch you leave me babe” In society, songs are usually written because of a person’s experiences or relations so Etta James, when she sung this song, must of had a connection to this song, maybe she was going to tough love and someone might be leaving her for someone else. I learnt through this song that love can be hard and sometimes you were still in love but the other person might not be, which would be devastating for that person still in love.
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Messages you took from the text(s) and why
The message I took away from the songs this that love is tough sometimes and can be heartbreaking for that person who still loves their parten but that is not recipucated. The meaning behind the song is that she’d rather go blind than dealing with the hurt of seeing your loved one walk away. Just the thought of them being with someone else breaks her heart. To me, this song is about lying to yourself, being blind on purpose about the fact that your loved one is about to leave cause he loves you no more. You don’t want to see it, but you know it will happen anyway, so all you have left is cry, “Something deep down in my soul said, “Cry girl” (cry, cry)” This taught me that love is not easy and things dont alway go in your favour. “Most of all, I just don’t, I just don’t want to be free no, ooh oo” this is referring to how the songwriter or the person this song if referring to, which could be any one, know the truth deep inside, but is afraid of being alone outside of a relationship.
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Challenges that characters had to deal with and your response to these
The challenges that the person singing the song is facing, is the fact that they are losing someone they hold dearly to someone else. “When I saw you and that girl, walking around, Ooh, I would rather, I would rather go blind boy,” this is show how she has suppositious of her partner leaving her but she still loves him, “Ooh, so you see, I love you so much.” It must be very hard on her as I have heard stories of people that I know who have fallen out of love and it is very hard, heartbreaking. So in society, this happens regularly and Etta James intentions was to probably make it aware to people that there are others going through what she is. I learnt from this that people would do anything for love, even though they know deep down that the other person has moved on, and also that is shows in the song when she sings “And babe, baby (baby, baby, baby) I’d rather, I’d rather be blind boy.”
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Discussion about the title of the text(s) and why it was appropriate
“I’d rather go blind” is a perfect title for this song as it refers to the major theme behind the song and it is also repeated throughout the song. It was appropriate for this song because it made sense that it would be called this, as most songs nowadays are named after the lyrics in the song, so in this case it should be call ‘I’d Rather go blind’. For example, this is shown in another song by Etta James ‘At Last’, which have that song title repeated throughout the song. So I learnt that usually when naming a song, it should theoretically have lyrics from the song as the as the title.
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Who would you recommend this/these stories to and why
If I were to recommend ‘I’d rather go blind’, it would be to people who are going through what the person in the song is, but then also there is controversy there as if they listen to it, it might make them feel even more sad and lonely. Or it could make them determined to do something and confront that person who is moving away from them. I believe that this song was very well written and also sung, as Etta James is an incredible singer, which show in hows it has become a very popular song.
MERIT