James Taylor - You Can Close Your Eyes (Lyrics)

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"You Can Close Your Eyes" is a song written by James Taylor which was released on his 1971 album Mud Slide Slim and the Blue Horizon. It was also released as the B-side to his #1 single "You've Got a Friend". It has often been described as a lullaby. It was initially recorded by his sister Kate Taylor for her 1971 album Sister Kate. The song has been covered by many artists, including Carly Simon, Linda Ronstadt, Maureen McGovern, Richie Havens, Sheryl Crow, Sting, Eddie Vedder with Natalie Maines, and the King's Singers.

Taylor wrote "You Can Close Your Eyes" about a year before it was recorded in early 1971. Taylor regards it as "a secular hymn." Rock journalist Dave Thompson considers it one of the best songs Taylor had written up to that point. Allmusic critic Bill Janovitz describes "You Can Close Your Eyes" as "a beautiful lullaby", and Rolling Stone critic Ben Gerson similarly calls it "an exquisite lullaby." Critic Al Rudis goes further, saying that the song "continues [Taylor's] hold on the world championship of lullaby composers." Allmusic's William Ruhlmann describes it as a "moving" song that affirms romance. Martin Charles Strong describes it as being "lovely" and "more affecting" than "You've Got a Friend." Musicologist James Perone finds similarities between the melody of the verses of "You Can Close Your Eyes" and the chorus of Taylor's earlier song "Carolina in My Mind." Gerson compares the song's melody to that of Cat Stevens' "Here Comes My Baby."

Janovitz points out a duality in the lyrics. The lyrics attempt to comfort the singer's lover, possibly after a fight. But the lyrics also sound a possibly ominous note, in that he sings "But I can sing this song/And you can sing this song when I'm gone," suggesting that he may be leaving her soon, although it is not specified whether "I'm gone" refers to ending the relationship or just going away for a while. Perone notes that the theme of a singer who can't express his feelings except through song gives "You Can Close Your Eyes" an "autobiographical-sounding feeling of authenticity." Perone also feels that the "unconventional overall structure and somewhat unpredictable phrase structure" produces a feeling of "from-the-heart spontaneity." Gerson notes that the themes in the song of farewell and that this could be the singer's last song are themes that run throughout the Mud Slide Slim album, calling "You Can Close Your Eyes" "the song which repudiates songs."