Robben Ford (born December 16, 1951) is a blues, jazz and rock guitarist wi… Read Full Bio ↴Robben Ford (born December 16, 1951) is a blues, jazz and rock guitarist with a diverse career.

He was born in Woodlake, California and raised in Ukiah. He taught himself guitar when he was 13 and considered his first influence to be Mike Bloomfield. At 18 he moved to San Francisco to form the Charles Ford Blues Band (named after his father, who was also a guitarist) featuring his brothers Mark (mouth harp) and Patrick (drums).

Robben was soon hired to play with Charles Musselwhite for nine months. Robben Ford played with Jimmy Witherspoon (1972-1973), the L.A. Express with Tom Scott (1974), George Harrison and Joni Mitchell. In 1977 he was a founding member of the Yellowjackets, which he stayed with until 1983, simultaneously having a solo career and working as a session guitarist.

In 1986, Ford toured with Miles Davis and he had two separate periods (1985 and 1987) with Sadao Watanabe, but he seemed to really find himself in 1992 when he returned to his roots: the blues. Ford formed a new group, the Blue Line, and subsequently recorded a couple of blues-rock dates for Stretch that are among the finest of his career. In 1999, he released Sunrise on Rhino and Supernatural on Blue Thumb. Ford signed to the Concord Jazz label in 2002 and released Blue Moon that same year, followed by Keep on Running in 2003 and Truth in 2007. Robben Ford whilst continuing to record solo albums has been touring in 2007 with guitar legend Larry Carlton.

Deaf Dumb And Blind
Robben Ford Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

I couldn't hear
when you spoke to me
and now you're gone
What could have been in my head
To keep me away from you

I couldn't speak
Even when I had these feelings

Words would gather in my chest
And never be heard by you
Deaf, dumb, and blind
Caught up in myself until you left me behind
If I never see you again
I will remember

I couldn't see
When you showed your love to me
I was thinking only of myself
And missing all that light from you

I can't explain
Why I ran away from devotion
The love that I could only hide
Should never have been denied

Deaf, dumb, and blind
Caught up in myself until you left me behind
If I never see you again
I will remember

I couldn't feel
Until I awoke and found you gone
What could have been in my head
To keep me away from you

Deaf, dumb, and blind
Caught up in myself until you left me behind
If I never see you again

I will remember
Deaf, dumb, and blind

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Robben Ford's song Deaf Dumb and Blind speak of a relationship that has ended and the regret that the singer feels for not having been able to enjoy it fully when it was happening. The first verse speaks of not having heard when the person spoke and now that they're gone, the singer is wondering what could have been in their head that kept them away. The second verse talks about how the singer had feelings but couldn't speak them, and now regrets that their words never reached the person. The chorus talks about being caught up in oneself and not having been aware of the other person's love, being deaf, dumb and blind to it. The third verse talks about not having seen the love that was being shown and only thinking of oneself. The final verse speaks about the regret and the realization that the person is gone and the singer couldn't feel anything until then, how they had been deaf, dumb and blind to the relationship, and now only the memory remains.

Line by Line Meaning

I couldn't hear
I was not able to listen

when you spoke to me
to your words that you spoke to me

and now you're gone
But you have left me

What could have been in my head
What was going through my mind

To keep me away from you
That prevented me from being with you

I couldn't speak
I was unable to talk

Even when I had these feelings
Despite the emotions I had

Words would gather in my chest
I was at a loss for words

And never be heard by you
I couldn't express myself to you

Deaf, dumb, and blind
I was unable to listen, speak, or see

Caught up in myself until you left me behind
I was too self-involved until you moved on