"Blinded" (also known as "Blinded (When I See You)") is a song by American

alternative rock Alternative rock (also known as alternative music, alt-rock or simply alternative) is a category of rock music that evolved from the independent music underground of the 1970s. Alternative rock acts achieved mainstream success in the 1990s w ...

band

Third Eye Blind Third Eye Blind is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California, in 1993. After years of lineup changes in the early and mid-1990s, the songwriting duo of Stephan Jenkins and Kevin Cadogan signed the band's first major-label reco ...

. It was released in April 2003 as the lead single from their 2003 album, '' Out of the Vein''. It was written by

Stephan Jenkins Stephan Douglas Jenkins ( ; born September 27, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, and the frontman of the alternative rock band Third Eye Blind. He began his musical career in 1992 as part of the short-lived rap duo Puck and Natty, alongs ...

, Arion Salazar, and Tony Fredianelli. The song received positive reviews from music critics and peaked at number 34 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Pop Songs Pop Airplay (also called Mainstream Top 40, Pop Songs, and Top 40/ CHR) is a 40-song music chart published weekly by ''Billboard'' Magazine that ranks the most popular songs of pop music being played on a panel of Top 40 radio stations in the U ...

chart.

Background

"Blinded" was written by Stephan Jenkins, Arion Salazar, and Tony Fredianelli and was produced by Jenkins. The protagonist of the song is a man who goes to his ex-lover's apartment and spies on her through the bathroom door, illustrated in lyrics such as "I see you fogging up the mirror / Vapor round your body glistens from the shower." According to ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

''s Tom Sinclair, the song seems to reference

The Who The Who are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1964. Their classic lineup (1964–1978) consisted of lead vocalist Roger Daltrey, guitarist Pete Townshend, bassist John Entwistle and drummer Keith Moon. Considered one of th ...

's "

Pinball Wizard "Pinball Wizard" is a song by the English rock band the Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend and featured on their 1969 rock opera album '' Tommy''. The original recording was released as a single in 1969 and reac ...

".Sinclair, Tom
"Out of the Vein Review"
ew.com. May 7, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2012.

Release

"Blinded" was released as a single in April 2003. It was the second track on Third Eye Blind's 2003 album, ''Out of the Vein'', which was released the following month."Out of the Vein - Third Eye Blind"
allmusic.com. Retrieved June 16, 2012. The song also appeared on Third Eye Blind's 2006 compilation album, '' A Collection''.

Composition

"Blinded" is an alternative rock song.

Critical reception

"Blinded" received positive critical reviews. ''Billboard''s Chuck Taylor wrote that the song was "a jangly, pop-rooted rocker that reflects the signature style of the band: lyric-loaded, a big chorus, hearty, organic instrumentation, and more than a smattering of sexual innuendo. Adult top 40 and modern rock should take this baby in and give it a happy home.""Singles"
''Billboard''. April 26, 2003. p. 39. ''Billboard''s Larry Flick thought that the song would "easily stand the test of time." While comparing ''Out of the Vein'' to Third Eye Blind's previous work, the ''

Record-Journal The ''Record-Journal'' is an American daily newspaper based in Meriden, Connecticut, that dates back to the years immediately following the American Civil War. It was owned by the Record-Journal Publishing Company, a family-owned business enti ...

''s Alan Sculley wrote, "Frisky songs like 'Blinded (When I See You)' and 'Crystal Baller' sit comfortably alongside past hits like '

Semi-Charmed Life "Semi-Charmed Life" is a song by American rock band Third Eye Blind from their 1997 eponymous debut studio album. It was released to modern rock radio as the lead single from the album on February 18, 1997, by Elektra Records. Frontman Stephan ...

' and ' Never Let You Go.'"

Chart performance

"Blinded" was the first single released off of ''Out of the Vein''. It spent 15 weeks on the ''Billboard''

Adult Pop Songs The Adult Pop Airplay (formerly known as Adult Pop Songs and Adult Top 40) chart is published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine and ranks "the most popular adult top 40 as based on radio airplay detections measured by Nielsen Broadcast Data Syste ...

chart and peaked at number 17 on July 5, 2003. It also peaked at number 35 on the ''Billboard''

Alternative Songs Alternative Airplay (formerly known as Modern Rock Tracks between 1988 and 2009, and Alternative Songs between 2009 and 2020) is a music chart published in the American magazine ''Billboard'' since September 10, 1988. It ranks the 40 most-play ...

chart and at number 34 on the ''Billboard''

chart. "Blinded - Third Eye Blind" billboard.com. Retrieved June 16, 2012. It was the only single from ''Out of the Vein'' to appear on the charts.

Music video

The song's

music video A music video is a video that integrates a song or an album with imagery that is produced for promotion (marketing), promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device intended to ...

was directed by Stephan Jenkins and features the band members fooling around and performing onstage."Blinded (When I See You)"
mtv.com. June 24, 2003. Retrieved June 16, 2012.

Credits and personnel

Credits and personnel are adapted from the "Blinded (When I See You)" CD single liner notes. *

– vocals, writer, producer * Arion Salazar – writer, producer * Tony Fredianelli – writer * Jason Carmer – producer, engineering * Sean Beresford – engineering * Sean Coleman – assistant engineer *

Tom Lord-Alge Tom Lord-Alge (born January 17, 1962) is an American music engineer and mixer. He began his career at Unique Recording in New York. Subsequently, he was the resident mixer at what used to be known as "South Beach Studios", located on the ground ...

– mixing at Southbeach Studio (Miami) *

Emily Lazar Emily B. Lazar is an American mastering engineer. She is the founder, president, and chief mastering engineer of The Lodge, an audio mastering facility that has operated in New York City's Greenwich Village since 1997. She won a Grammy Award for ...

– mastering at The Lodge (New York)

Charts

Release history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blinded 2003 singles Third Eye Blind songs Songs written by Stephan Jenkins