Tunnel Vision

* Single
* 2015 solo version

Single by Rina Sawayama featuring Shamir

## Music Video

"**Tunnel Vision**" is the fourth track from Rina Sawayama's debut extended play *Rina* (2015). The song, featuring vocals from American singer Shamir, was released as the extended play's third single on 24 October 2017, and was written by Sawayama and Shamir along with the song's producer Hoost.

"Tunnel Vision" was originally released in 2015, along with an accompanying music video on 19 June 2015.

## Background

According to Rina, the song was written and recorded in less than an hour. "I was in the studio and kept getting distracted by emails, Facebook messages, Instagram," she told *The Fader*, over email. "Just generally being a bit rude TBH. I felt this pressure to be on call 24/7 by different people, totally losing my sense of self—something that I'm sure everyone can relate to. Justin [Tailor] played this incredible piano riff, and the lyrics 'You tell me what's wrong with you but I don't really care' just flowed out." She also said that "everything came out so honestly and rather than turning it into a traditional song structure I decided to keep it short, like it was a rant."

The song was uploaded on music sharing website SoundCloud on 10 April 2015, as a single released for Sawayama's then-upcoming debut EP, *Alone Together*, but the project was eventually scrapped.

On 24 October 2017 a reworked version of the track featuring American singer Shamir was released as the third single from Sawayama's debut EP, *Rina*. With a duration of 3 minutes and 38 seconds, this version of the track features a longer intro and two more verses for Shamir. On the single, Sawayama said that they wanted to pay homage to duets like Lauryn Hill and D'Angelo or Beyoncé and Luther Vandross. "I tried to get across a sense of closeness that's so often lost when you collaborate on music online," she added. About collabing with Sawayama, Shamir said:

> I'm so happy to have been asked to be apart of Rina's 'Tunnel Vision'! The themes in the lyrical content deal with a generational problem that's rarely talked about. I know I personally have fallen victim to using technology to mask anxiety, it seems to be a new social nuisance I hope we'll soon get a handle on, but to start we have 'Tunnel Vision'.
>
>

## Composition

"Tunnel Vision" is a "glitzy" and "twinkling" R&B track, composed in the key of D♭ Major with a tempo of 127 beats per minute.

## Critical reception

Writing for Leo Sigh, journalist Michelle Topham described the song as a "delightfully sweet and soulful track." She also believed Sawayama's vocals sound like "just like Mariah Carey from her 1990 debut album".

## Music video

A music video for the 2015 version of "Tunnel Vision" was uploaded on 19 June 2015. It was shot in May by Swedish photographer Arvida Byström. According to Sawayama, when she showed Byström the track, she wanted to make a video for it, "I was so happy as I'm such a huge fan of her work. The video came out exactly like I imagined, like a pastel R&B glitter struggle."

* **Director** – Arvida Byström
* **Makeup Artist** – Wilma Stigson Lundin

### Synopsis

In the sparkle-heavy music video, Rina is shown "tortured" by her addiction to checking her phone preventing her from sleeping, dependent upon constant updates and notifications for happiness.

## Live performances

   A performance video, directed by Sawayama and Alessandra Kurr, was uploaded on Vimeo on 8 December 2017. Cinematographed by Nick Morris, and styled by Michael Darlington, the vintage-designed video performance features Sawayama performing with an electric guitar and a hanging vintage microphone.

"Tunnel Vision" was also a regular part of Rina Sawayama's debut headlining tour the Ordinary Superstar Tour 2018.

## Lyrics

**Rina Sawayama:**

*What?*

You tell me what's wrong with you

But I don't really care

There's certainly something we've messed up

But it's late to share

I know you're sad and lonely

But I got one hundred tabs

Open in my mind but closed for business

Just so you're aware

Tunnel vision madness

Notification happiness

Spinning plates

Relationships going down the drain

**Shamir:**

Emotions are too much for me

So I spread my love through likes

I didn't even leave my house last week

But I know what you did last night

My fingers going numb as I search for a piece of mind

But all the time just gets ahead of me

And I sleep with the daylight

**Both:**

Tunnel vision madness

Notification happiness

Spinning plates

Relationships going down the drain

**Rina Sawayama:**

Sing it, Shamir

**Shamir (Rina Sawayama):**

Going down the drain

(Going down the drain, yeah)

Going down the drain

(I ain't lose myself)

Going down the drain

Going down the drain

(I'm going, I'm going, I'm going away)

(I'm going, I'm going, I'm going away)

**Both:**

Tunnel vision madness (tunnel vision)

Notification happiness (happiness)

Spinning plates

Relationships going down the drain

**Rina Sawayama:**

I'm not ill, I'm just driven (just driven)

But I guess there's just no end (just no end)

To this mess that I created, that I created

Until then, until I'm tired

I'll be gladly riding on a merry-go

Let me go round, and round, and round

And round, and round, and round

And round, and round, and round

And round, and round, and round...

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 *The Line of Best Fit*. Rina Sawayama returns with glitzy R&B swooner “Tunnel Vision”
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 *The Line of Best Fit*. Rina Sawayama details mini-album RINA, shares new single featuring Shamir
3. ↑ Rina Sawayama - Tunnel Vision (Official Video)
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 *The Fader*. London Singer-Songwriter Rina Sawayama Is Tired Of Living Online
5. ↑ RINA SAWAYAMA on Twitter: "My new sounds: Tunnel Vision"
6. ↑ *DIY*. Rina Sawayama teams up with Shamir on ‘Tunnel Vision’
7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 *Clash Magazine.* Rina Sawayama Pairs With Shamir On R&B Hymn 'Tunnel Vision'
8. ↑ "Key & BPM for Tunnel Vision by Rina Sawayama, Shamir". Tunebat. Retrieved on April 24, 2021.
9. ↑ Topham, Michelle (10 May 2015). "Rina Sawayama Releases ‘Tunnel Vision’ on Soundcloud – Sweet and Soulful". Leo Sigh. Retrieved on July 28, 2021.
10. ↑ Watch: Rina Sawayama “Tunnel Vision”