Georgia & The Vintage Youth return with new single ‘Colour Blind’ a song about mental health during the difficult days of Covid lockdown.
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Georgia & The Vintage Youth ‘Colour Blind’
It’s always a challenge to get through a review of Georgia & The Vintage Youth without mentioning a fellow big-haired, former Camden soul-tress. But on this occasion, the story behind Colour Blind makes it easy.
Colour Blind is lifted from the ‘Overthinker’ EP which has already gathered more than 250,000 Spotify streams. It’s a song of two parts. Initially, it’s a dreamy lullaby to deliberately contrast with the song’s frank and honest lyrics. As the song heads for the bridge, sharp horn stabs and darker lyrics are used to symbolise the dream turning into a nightmare. It also feels like a needed release of pent-up emotions.
Georgia explains the story behind the song.
“Colour Blind is a ballad is about coming to terms with and addressing my own mental health. I started this song from the end and worked backwards. I began with writing the final chorus, I had the melody in mind, and I knew that I wanted that to be the biggest part of the song, like a release after bottling up so many thoughts and feelings. “My mouth says fine, but my eyes don’t lie. I don’t wanna die, just tired of feeling colour blind.” This chorus is a huge hint, encouraging people to check up on loved ones and notice what their eyes are saying as opposed to just the words they speak.
Colour Blind is about not feeling happy or sad, it’s about feeling nothing and it’s quite difficult to write about nothingness. I likened a lot of my feelings to concepts like black and white films, grey skies and the loneliness you can feel when a gig is over – “I’ve always liked films in monochrome but living life in black and white is dull.” The song is about acknowledging that you’re not really ok but then brushing it off so that nobody notices. Not addressing or talking about your struggles, which is quite damaging. The first verse ends with, “I know I’ll be fine”, the second, “I’m sure I’ll be fine”, the third, “I hope I’ll be fine.”
It’s clear this track works on many levels. With Colour Blind Georgia & The Vintage Youth have eloquently captured and bottled the feelings, emotions and challenges that many people have experienced since lockdown began. In some ways feeling nothing has never felt more alive and while the song may have been inspired by a monochrome palette, it’s surely a song that will bring a splash of colour and reason for optimism to any day.
The track also contains a sample from Marilyn Monroe where she touches on her own mental health. “I’m not just generally happy, if I’m generally anything then I guess I’m generally miserable,” If there was ever a reminder to check in on friends and ask how they are, this is it.
About Georgia & The Vintage Youth
Back in 2019 when live music was still a thing, Georgia and her retro-pop band “The Vintage Youth” took to the road, playing to thousands on a 50-date support tour, including a finale performance at The Royal Albert Hall.
Tentative future live plans are starting to take shape with the band hoping to touring the UK, Ireland and Germany, with further plans for a 3-city tour of China.
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Words Mark Knight
