Deep Purple: When the Blind Man Cries Meaning

When the Blind Man Cries Lyrics

"When A Blind Man Cries"

If you're leaving, close the door
I'm not expecting people, anymore
Here me grieving, lying on the floor
Whether I'm drunk or dead, I really ain't too sure

I'm a blind man
I'm a blind man
And my world is...

1. anonymous

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   Nov 9th 2021 !⃝

   What a deep song! He lost his soulmate .. the only one who shared him in his room his table .. all the lovely moments they lived together have gone forever.. but they will meet again in but not on this world .
2. anonymous

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   Oct 15th 2018 !⃝

   Even Ian Gillan said he wanted to talk about how people who have impaired eyesight can cry, that is mainly the first verse. Even the chorus.
   
   This verse "Had a friend once in a room,
   had a good time but it ended much too soon.
   In a cold month in that room
   we found a reason for the things we had to do." definetely makes a reference at the recording of Machine Head. Apparently the recording of Machine Head was very smooth and they all got along really well. After that intensive touring and the fact that Blackmore and Gillan kept clashing brought the MK2 to the end.
3. anonymous

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   Oct 4th 2017 !⃝

   I think the song is about a man in a coma because of an accident from consuming too much alcohol, with a friend who died because of it.
   Some people think that when in a coma you remain aware of your surroundings. 'Blind man' refers to the fact that he is in a coma, unable to see.
   
   "If you're leaving, close the door"
   Thinking, rather pointlessly if not frustratedly , asking a nurse or doctor to close the door in his thoughts, unable to speak.
   
   "I'm not expecting people, anymore"
   It's many months or years since the accident and not many people visit him anymore.
   
   "Hear me grieving, lying on the floor"
   In a coma already, unable to move (so lying on the floor), silently grieving for his dead friend.
   
   "Whether I'm drunk or dead, I really ain't too sure"
   He isn't sure if he is also dead, or if he's in a coma from being so drunk.
   
   "I'm a blind man, I'm a blind man and my world is pale.
   When a blind man cries, Lord, you know there ain't no sadder tale."
   He's in a coma, so is unable to see. When he wakes up, he knows he will have lost his vision due to the alcohol. His world is always the same, so bland and boring all the time. He is silently wishing he could cry, always pondering the events that led up to the tragedy.
   
   "Had a friend once, in a room"
   The friend who died and where the accident happened.
   
   "Had a good time but it ended much too soon"
   It was fun at the time, but was brought to a tragic, sudden end.
   
   "In a cold month in that room
   We found a reason for the things we had to do"
   He is reflecting on events before the accident, planning things that they would do, and justifying them.
   
   "I'm a blind man, I'm a blind man, now my room is cold."
   In a coma, he feels cold, yet can't do anything about it. It is also always the same.
   
   "When a blind man cries, Lord, you know he feels it from his soul."
   He feels guilty and responsible for the accident, and maybe, just maybe is showing some outwards sign of recovery as a single tear forms in his blinded eyes.
4. anonymous

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   Apr 6th 2016 !⃝

   I feel as a blind man and my word is pale. There is no color and no happiness because they left me and I am sad and alone. I am grieving: I do not want to care - I am on the floor...drinking, crying and numb...I do not want to feel it, but I am in pain. This is my sad tale (my true sad tale). I had a brother; actually, two brothers once and we had a good time together, but they are gone. They both died. Too soon, too young and too sudden. And yes they both died in the room, and in the cold month. They were my friends, my blood and my soul. But they are gone. I know I need to find a reason for the things we had to do and for these I have to do now, but it is so painful because I feel as a blind man who cries, who does not see anything, and does not understand anything. But Lord you know my pain..... and I have to ask you "why?"
5. anonymous

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   Jan 20th 2016 !⃝

   Your all wrong...it's about Blackmore,gillan was describing how there friendship was deteriorating... Had a friend once in a room had a good time but it ended much too soon.
6. anonymous

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   Apr 22nd 2014 !⃝

   Listen to this song and compare with the song: Animals - House of the Rising Sun
7. anonymous

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   Nov 2nd 2012 !⃝

   Well, I think that this song is about two friends that had a tragic accident.
   In first verse one of them is talking to the nurse from hospital bed. In second, there is description of drama: friends bought some cheap booze that was "enriched" with methanol. One of them drunk too much and died. This one, who is telling the story, survived this horror, but drunk the amount of methanol that blinded him.
   There is some more about this tragic incident in Internet: there is this tale about to friends that drink methanol and one of them is talking to the other: hey - drink faster, because it's getting dark...
   Tragic stroy... tragic song... hartbreaking...
   But there is some wisdom: buy alcohol from store not from your neighbor.
8. anonymous

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   Sep 11th 2012 !⃝

   I love this song (one of Mk2's best), but I think the lyrics, aspecially the verses, are far more literal as stated above.
   In my interpretation it is about loss, the loss of friendship or even a relationship. The Blind Man actually is/was 'too blind to see' to keep it going and this occurs to him in a selfpitty drunkeness after the thing ended (much too soon).
   This said, and I understand it doesn't sound too fancy regarding the delicacy of the vocals, the solo and the song as a whole, but the title may well have been When an Old Drunk Cries. After all, it is Rock'n'Roll...
9. agrootboom1

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   Sep 10th 2012 !⃝

   Since i heard this song ages ago, i was always fascinated by the lyrics.
   How does a blind man cry? Is it because he experiences sadness because he canot experience the world as you do? But how can you cry over an experience that you never had in the first place. By describing the world as pale, i ask myself self pale in relation to what? Is it because of aloneness and not loneliness? His experiences and the seeing of the world is through your eyes, not his. However, he has a deeper understanding in the soul. His cry is therefore for an experiences he anticipated and did not happen as a result of blindness. Because xhe is blind, his other senses are heightened. His experiences and lives the world through his ears. Secondly, his soul is more in tune with things spiritual. Touching on things spiritual means that this song was written in an altered state of mind. Only in thta altered state are you really able to relate you deepest understanding between alive or being dead. Whether i am alive or dead i cannot tell. This moves the song beyond our interpretation from our particular vantage point. Being spiritually attuned you are better able to relate to the context of the lyrics. It is beyond the material understanding of the world and speaks to a higher state of being.

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