Drew Bossman
WRT105
Ray Charles
“The way I look at it, you have to see the change and if you
can’t do that, you have to change to see. I guess what I really
mean to say is… you can’t see me, but I can see you” –Ray
Charles. From the early years of life, Ray Charles, possibly the
greatest musician to ever live, has gone through the struggle of
living his life and playing his music without the ability to see
what is directly in front of him or even around him. Without the
ability to see, his life has been one big obstacle, one he has
looked forward to overcoming everyday. When Mr. Charles first
said that the interviewer asked what he meant and Ray
responded with “think about the question you just asked and ask
me again the next time you see me.” Coming from a man who has
produced some of the greatest music ever heard while being blind
at the same time, everything he said may have a meaning of its
own. Why would a blind man say that he couldn’t be seen but at
the same time could see a man who is fully capable when it
comes to vision? It might come down to the fact that Ray has had
to change his life to do everything he loves to do while everyone
else around him takes their ability to see for granted.
In a world where fully capable people are expected to do the
most amazing things and make the biggest changes, the disabled
tend to step out from behind the curtain and do some pretty
amazing things without the help that everyone believes they
need. Playing the piano and other various instruments should be,
in theory, impossible to do when you are blind, but for Ray
that’s exactly the point. From the beginning of his career he has
always tried to learn something different or do something a
different way so he can always better himself, while still enjoying
everything he loves to do. “You have to see the change and if you
cant do that, you have to change to see” That is something that
ray has always had to do. Change to see. There is no question in
anyone’s mind that it must be hard to live a life when you cant
see anything around you, you have to cross streets, use stairs, use
doors, and things that wouldn’t be hard for someone to do if they
could see.
In the picture Ray is shown singing into a microphone with
one hand on the piano keyboard and the other on top of the
piano with a few people off in the distance of the background.
This photo is meant to show the life and passion that Ray puts
into all of his music that he performs as well as his skill to multi
task; you can also see that he is very well dressed, wearing a suit
and a buttoned down shirt. Anyone who is viewing this
photograph can see that even though Ray Charles may be
disabled, he is still enjoying his life and he is still doing the
things he loves to do. They will see that nothing is stopping this
man from doing something great, or from making the statement
that is ‘you can do anything your heart desires if you want it
bad enough’, Ray works hard day in and day out on the piano
and his gift didn’t just come to him in a dream one night. He was
always passionate about playing and chased after his dream and
played, regardless of what anyone had to say. The audience can
see that Ray is setting the stage for any other disabled person to
make the difference he/she wants to make, no matter how big the
obstacles may be, no matter how many people may doubt, and no
matter how hard something may seem, anything is possible.
Ray has been called “the father of inspiration” and “the
most gifted pianist ever” and his music hit the hearts of so many
during a time when music was the only thing people looked to
for inspiration and motivation. Ray’s audience, both black and
white, has followed his music wherever he went. Ray’s quote:
“The way I look at it, you have to see the change and if you can’t
do that, you have to change to see. I guess what I really mean to
say is… you can’t see me, but I can see you” may dig deeper into
what his life is all about. He tells us to see the change we want to
make and if we cant see any changing, then we need to change
ourselves in order to see. Or maybe he means that he had to
change his life to see the change he wanted to make, and by
changing was able to make everything change around him. Ray
then goes on to say that no one can see him, but he can see them,
which is a rather unique statement to make for a man who is
blind, its possible that he might mean that because people are so
naïve to the world around them because they are fully capable
human beings, that they in-turn are incapable of seeing the
deeper meaning of things.