“I Go Blind,” a song from Vancouver rock band 54-40’s 1986 self-titled album, will be inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame on April 1.
Written by 54-40 members Neil Osborne, Philip Comparelli, Brad Merritt and Darryl Neudorf, the song – which had only been released in Canada – took on new life in 1994 when it was covered by Hootie & the Blowfish.
“When the Hootie version of ‘I Go Blind’ came out it was a bit of vindication for us,” Merritt said, in a release. “Here’s a song that the label was not going to release in the U.S. but radio started playing it on their own.
“Without any kind of radio promotion, it got to No. 2 in the country with zero push. That tells you something. That’s a really strong song.”