You Can Close Your Eyes

This is a James Taylor lullaby that I played for my young son whenever he was sick and miserable. Still do actually. It resonates with me as because it expresses parental devotion and simultaneously recognises our mortality.

I mention this because yesterday I managed to hurt my son's feelings with a sharp word. I always feel like a heel when I do that. We were at Toronto's Royal Winter Fair (same grounds as the Toronto Molson Indy CART race...) with my sister, her young daughters and my father who is in town for a short while. C. was being pushy with his little nieces and I said that since he had a key of his own now that I would give him money for the bus and he could find his way home. It was a bit of a joke, but it really frightened him (he's eleven). He's getting so big but he can still be so little...

The song is from James Taylor's second album, released in 1971, Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. (How's that for an album title?) Click here to listen to a sample from Apple's iTunes Store.

You Can Close Your Eyes

Well the sun is surely sinking down,
but the moon is slowly rising.
So this old world must still be spinning around,
and I still love you.

Chorus:
So close your eyes;
you can close your eyes, it's all right.
I don't know no love songs,
and I can't sing the blues any more.
But I can sing this song,
and you can sing this song, when I'm gone.

It won't be long before another day.
We're gonna have a good time.
And no one's gonna take that time away.
You can stay as long as you like.

Chorus

It won't be long before another day.
We're gonna have a good time.
And no one's gonna take that time away.
You can stay as long as you like.

Chorus