Paddy's Notes
The Blind Man
When I return home to Ireland, I sometimes see the same people sitting on the same bar stools from the time I left 12 years ago. Some of these kind of people often have an opinion on everything. They talk about things they know nothing about. They talk about places they have never been. They either get their information from the T.V., the newspaper or usually, other people who are like themselves. We call them "begrudgers" at home. They hate everyone. They hate to see anyone do well with their lives. To me, they are "blind". That's where this song is coming from.
The "blind" man is the "ignorant" man. I think that metaphor works well. The song talks about the fact that such people can often be quite generous, funny and shrewd, or smart in their own way. They are often very happy being who they are and where they are. After all, they know nothing else. There's a beauty in that.
The song also talks about how ignorant people can sometimes make youignorant. There's no reason to feel anger towards such people because they can't really help it and besides, you know the truth anyway. Or if you don't, go find out what the truth is.
© Paddy Gibney
Pain and lies are intertwined.
Speak the truth or you'll go blind.
You look and see With curiosity
And you marvel at his generosity
Too much time and little luck
The blind man has seen enough
He'll accept your hospitality
And he'll resurrect your morality
You will learn how not to grow
From the blind man
The smartest man I know
Ignorance is bliss they say
Jesus come and save my day
There's got to be a better way
To show the blind man how to play
Please, Please, Please, Please.
Please accept my apology
For what the blind man has done to me
Please don't feel animosity
Toward the man and his philosophy
The truth's alive where you can go
Don't ask the blind man
A happy man I know, you know
What he says is never what he does
And who he is gets inside of us
He's never left where he's always been
Yet there's nothing and no one
The blind man hasn't seen
Ignorance is bliss today
He'll never change or have much to say
There's got to be a better way
To bring the blind man into play
Please, Please, Please, Please.
Please accept my apology
For what the blind man has done to me
(Here we go now)
Please, Please, Please, Please.
Please accept my apology
For what the blind man's begrudgery
Has done to me
He won't drag me down
Don't let him drag you down
I'm not coming down
For the blind man
Learn from the blind man
Open your eyes or say goodbye
Goodbye.
© Paddy Gibney