… Read Full Bio ↴Will Wiesenfeld AKA Baths was born in 1989, in Los Angeles, California.
Wiesenfield is a classically trained musician, and began learning the piano at the age of four “to compete with his brother”. By twelve he had “completely abandoned it,” but continual musical experimenting lead him to record his first piece of music at age fourteen. Under a previous moniker, [Post-foetus], he wrote four albums and three EPs. He also ventured into a more ambient style with side-project Geotic, a project which Irish magazine State.ie called “gorgeous”.
After adopting the name Baths, he released debut album Cerulean on independent record label Anticon. He recorded the entire album in two months from his bedroom. The BBC’s Mike Diver claims Baths’ nearest musical sound-a-like is chillwave musician Toro Y Moi. Pitchfork noted Baths’ influences, acts such as Björk and Flying Lotus, were “obvious” in his work.
Drowned in Sound noted Baths’ use of “unorthodox” sounds layered in and around the electronics, in particular “clicking pens, vocal samples, rustling blankets and scissor snaps”. British newspaper The Guardian’s Paul Lester commented he was reminded of “J Dilla playing around with the Pavement and Prince catalogues” while listening to the album. While a lot of his music is instrumental, it can occasionally incorporate vocals, most of them falsetto.
Cerulean was listed by the AV Club as the 21st best album of 2010. It made Pitchfork’s Album of the Year: Honorable Mention list.
No Eyes
Baths Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
In the pit there in the smoke
I can never make out your face
Or at least I can't remember it
I have no eyes
I have no love
I have no hope
If you mean it
But it is only a matter of
Come and fuck me
And it is not a matter of
If you love it
But it is only a matter of my fix
Gets all in the way, the pit in my throat
This isn't the adulthood I thought I wrote
And I never see your face
But I just might be okay with that
I have no eyes
I have no love
I have no hope
And it is not a matter of
If you mean it
But it is only a matter of
Come and fuck me
And it is not a matter of
If you love me
But it is only a matter of my fix
In "No Eyes" by Baths, the lyrics depict a feeling of numbness and hopelessness, creating a persona who has lost all sense of identity and seeks comfort from physical pleasure. The song opens with the persona stating that he is willing to accept anyone who will take him, suggesting that he has lost all standards for self-worth. The pit mentioned in the song is a metaphor for the persona's emotional state, and the smoke represents the illusion that he uses to mask his pain. He admits that he can't remember the face of the person he is with; indicating that he doesn't form connections with people anymore. The repetition of the line, "I have no eyes, I have no love, I have no hope" reinforces the persona's lack of emotions.
The chorus suggests that the persona is attempting to distance himself from his pain by seeking temporary pleasure with others. He acknowledges that it's not about the other person loving or meaning it, but only about himself getting his fix. The line, "I just might be okay with that" implies that the persona has accepted his current state, even though it is not ideal. The persona is aware that his pain is getting in the way and that he didn't expect adulthood to be this way. However, he finds comfort in knowing that he doesn't have to see the other person's face. The song ends with the repetition of the same lines, implying that the persona will continue to seek physical pleasure as a way to cope with his pain.
Line by Line Meaning
You take me and I'll take you
We can go together as a pair.
In the pit there in the smoke
We will be in a dark and hazy place.
I can never make out your face
I cannot recognize your face, maybe because it's too dark.
Or at least I can't remember it
Or maybe I have seen it before, but I can't recollect it now.
I have no eyes
I am blind to everything around me.
I have no love
I don't have any strong affection towards anything or anyone.
I have no hope
I am devoid of any optimism about the future.
And it is not a matter of if you mean it
It's not about whether you are sincere or not.
But it is only a matter of come and fuck me
It's only about physical gratification.
And it is not a matter of if you love it
It's not about whether you enjoy it or not.
But it is only a matter of my fix
It's only about fulfilling my needs and desires.
Gets all in the way, the pit in my throat
All these feelings of emptiness and despair are interfering with my ability to enjoy life.
This isn't the adulthood I thought I wrote
My present situation is not what I had planned for when I was younger.
And I never see your face
I don't really care about who you are or what you look like.
But I just might be okay with that
I am fine with just having a physical relationship without any emotional attachment.
Contributed by Victoria V. Suggest a correction in the comments below.