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Colorblind Lyrics

I am colorblind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready

I am taffy stuck and tongue tied
Stutter-shook and uptight
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am fine

I am covered my skin
No one gets to come in
Pull me out from inside
I am folded
And unfolded
And unfolding

I am colorblind
Coffee black and egg white
Pull me out from inside
I am ready
I am ready
I am ready
I am fine
Song Info
Copyright
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Writer
Adam Fredric Duritz, Ben G Mize, Charles Thomas Gillingham, Daniel John Vickrey, David Lynn Bryson, Matthew Mark Malley
Duration
3:24
Producer
Gil Norton, Counting Crows
Release date
Sep 14, 1999
Sentiment
Positive
Submitted by
lamia On Jul 07, 2001
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243 Meanings

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Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

OH GOD!! this song isnt about giving yourself in any physical way to anybody. it isnt about what color you are. it isnt about having sex or losing your virginity. it isnt even about making love or whatever else. its about people. how we're so scared to be who we are. how we would lie to even the people we love most and trust with our being. Its about being scared to open your eyes and taking that "leap of faith" into not only life, but a life that is filled with love. when he says, "i am ready, i am ready i am ready i am fine" hes saying that hes ready for life, hes ready to let go, hes ready to be who he is, and when he says hes fine hes reassuring himself of that readiness. and when he states, "i am covered in skin, no one gets to come in" hes saying that all he knows how to be is what people see him as. there is nothing more to him then just skin, because hes so dull, so bland, so bitter. and when he says, "pull me out from inside" hes begging someone to take him away from what he had made himself into. he wanted someone to let him be who he is. let him show whomever that he can love them. he was ready for someone to love him and he wasnt scared anymore. when he states, "taffy stuck and tongue tied" he expresses his fear of letting himself go. of putting down his guard and being vulnerable to the penetration of love.

me and this song go way back!!

and the whole cruel intentions thing... the song fits that scene very well... not because it represents losing your virginity or what not, but because it represents how sebastian let himself go. and how annette let him, let himself go. and they grew together. and they fell in love officially at that moment in the movie. because there was nothing more they could do to express their emotions with one another. it was beautiful!!

.GOD I LOVE THIS SONG.

@ThisIsPriss Perfect explanation, thank you.

Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

Interesting perspective... you're colorblind when born.

But I've always seen it like this: Color blind because you can't see the many shades of life; you have a black and white thinking mindset. You see things as either all positive or all negative. Or It's about that lack of diversity and variation that makes an individual's life sustainable. One day you're pure one day you're the opposite. The world sees you the same way. So being black and white or colorblind isn't about something that typically follows birth and will inevitably be outgrown. If it was about being colorblind at birth, which will definitely be outgrown; what's the point of the rest of the song and all the subsequent emotions poured into longing for things to change?

This person is ready to be pulled out from inside. Achieving that harmony between the external and internal. Finally to just not have the physical or external define him... Its hard to surmount the external or that which defines you. But there's hope in being able to identify that there's something else or more inside and acknowledging that you're ready for it to manifest. Takes the focus away from the extremities of your life and enables you to focus on the inbetween, the diverse, and the colorful.

Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

To me, this song is not about giving yourself to someone, but coming to terms with yourself. You're going through the motions, nothing being vivid to you spesifically. When it comes to parts of the song like 'I I am ready. I am fine.' How do you 'feel' fine spesifcially? In ways I think it's coming to terms with depression, or a form of sadness. 'I am covered in skin' kinda just blatantly saying there is nothing here but a body, what is inside is unknown or confusing. 'No one gets to come in' meaning no one would understand.

Perhaps I'm just grasping a little bit too much at what I'd like it to be instead of what it truly is, but that is the beauty of music and art. It is what you think of it.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

I found many of these responses to be hilarious.

This song is about someone suffering from dissociate and/or personality disorders (borderline, narcissistic, avoidiant), depersonalization, and so on.

For example, the black or white analogy refers to splitting (idealization and devaluation). People who tend to suffer from this tend to put the people in their lives on pedestals because of their dependence on these people to make themselves feel good. When they feel betrayed (which happens often and easily, like having 3rd degree emotional burns), they turn on those people and view them as the enemy.

I can explain further sometime. Adam Duritz helped a lot of people out writing this song, I am sure.

Translation
Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows
Song Meaning

Thanks for the read. It will take many famous people stepping forward and sharing their stories before fear subsides and those who can make positive changes in their lives actually strive to do so. The issue is one similar to rape...or where "rape" was in the 1980's. Alledged victims' names were withheld by the papers and networks. Victims felt dirty and didn't wish for anyone to know. And due to the silence, many more people suffered alone. Now the crime has garnered much more attention, thanks to the strong women who stepped out of the darkness and stood in solidarity...

Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

okay, this song is about X's point of view.

  • he sees the world in black and white(good and evil, period), labeling things accordingly. it's a contrary song, really.
  • X has shut himself from other people, thus he's "covered in skin" and he actually doesn't really want to come out of his shell, he doesn't want to be "pulled out" of his comfortable, numb, little place.
  • he doesn't want to move on. he's just stuck, unable to move forward.
  • he says 'I'm ready" as if he's telling it to someone, but in reality he's trying to convince HIMSELF, that's why he's repeating it.

X's basically really messed up and he's lying to himself, that he's "ready" to move on, that he's "fine" but he simply isn't and probably will never be.

btw that talk about sex...hahalarious ppl, bravo! (:

My Opinion

You are totally right.! This song isnt about sex at all.:)

Not Valid
Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

I have a really personal connection to this song, and it might not be what Adam intended when he wrote it, but I think all art is open to interpretation - so here's mine: This song is about just not being okay, not really being present in life, going through the motions and not really seeing the joy (color) in life (coffee black and egg white). The verse "I am covered in skin, no one gets to come in" is particularly meaningful to me because 2 months ago I was sexually assaulted by a (now ex) friend of mine. It made me feel like a sex object (I am covered in skin), it made me feel used, and since then it has been hard to open up to anyone else (no one gets to come in), it has been hard to connect with anything, and it has been hard to see the color in life. This song can refer to coping with any hardship in life, I think, but to me it really resonates to my experience with assault. I'm looking forward to the day when I can say "I am fine." Before this happened to me, I felt little to no connection with the song, I just recognized it as beautiful, and now it has helped me cope with something I hoped I would never have to deal with, and now it is even more powerful and beautiful to me.

My Interpretation
Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

This song is really emotional and really intense. I never really appreciated it until i started listening to it again, the piano chords....the cello. Beautiful. I agree that it sounds like somebody who isnt being themself, "pull me out from inside"....Pull out the real me. :)

Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

Personally? I think that this song is about eating disorders. Whether it be male or female. By the way they put 'Coffee black and egg white'... I actually know someone who has an eating disorder that only ate and drank black coffee, water, and egg whites for a long period of time.

When they put 'I am ready' I think they were trying to say that whoever's suffering from this disorder is ready to give up or get help. After becoming obsessed with your weight, food intake, and amount of exercise, everything else becomes meaningless and unnecessary.. even the things that they enjoyed doing before.

When they said 'No one gets to come in' they were saying that people who have an eating disorder shut everyone out and become isolated. Their mood decreases rapidly... 'Pull me out from inside' They can't take it anymore.. they've become their own enemy.. constantly thinking about how fat they are and they want to get out and be I guess you could say free.

The mood change, lack of happiness, depression.. I guess that could explain the 'Uptight' comment. Also, the person has probably ran out of excuses to tell to get them out of eating so maybe that could explain 'Tounge tied' and 'Stutter Shuck'.

The 'I am covered in skin', I think that it really means 'I am covered in fat'. Haha, I know.. sorry I couldn't make that sound better. But many people with these eating disorders believe they are fat when they are not.. picking at their so-called "fat" that is just skin.

In the music video, there was a girl that was standing out in front of a building.. I think that in the beginning she admitted to herself that she needed help and went to seek it and that's why they were repeating 'I am ready'. But a little while after, her thoughts get the best of her and she changes her mind and leaves, ending the song with "I am fine'.

The colorblind.. I think I explained that but probably not as well as I imagined. So let me rephrase it... The person with the eating disorder is a mess, they might not be the happy person they used to be since the disorder is eating them up. They've lost their excitement but at times, they fake being joyful and/or happy to please others or to put up an act.

Anyways, I think this song is about an eating disorder...

My own experience.

My Opinion

Lol I wish I could edit that comment up there^^ anyways, looking at the lyrics again, I found this out.. (:

I am colorblind Coffee black and egg white Pull me out from inside I am ready, I am ready, I am ready, I am taffy stuck and tongue tied Stutter shook and uptight Pull me out from inside I am ready, I am ready, I am ready, I am fine

I think the eating disordered person clamed up(tongue tied&stutter shook) and got really nervous(uptight) when she thought about getting help and entering that building.. 'Taffy stuck and tongue tied' Then,...

Cover art for Colorblind lyrics by Counting Crows

Most people seem to not be reading deep enuff into the song. The "colurblind" is not referring to skin colour! it is referring to accepting the one you love for who they are, not what they lok like they use the term colourblind because people will link it with racist terms and this is a kinda metaphore for the real meaning. This is also a really sad and lovely song (dont worry i find almost all songs sad) but this has to be one of the greats