"Don't Close Your Eyes" is a song written by

Bob McDill Robert Lee McDill (born April 4, 1944) is a retired American songwriter, active from the 1960s until 2000. During his career he wrote or co-wrote 31 number one country hits. His songs were also recorded by popular artists of the 1970s, 1980s an ...

, and recorded by American

country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...

artist

Keith Whitley Jackie Keith Whitley (July 1, 1954 – May 9, 1989) was an American country music singer and songwriter. During his career, Whitley released only two albums but charted 12 singles on the ''Billboard'' country charts, and 7 more after his death. ...

. It was released in March 1988 as third single from his album of the same name. In the United States, the single reached number-one for the week of August 13, while peaking at number 2 in Canada. Additionally, it was Billboard's number-one country single of the year 1988.

Content

In the song, the narrator is in a relationship with a girl who is still stuck on a former boyfriend. The narrator tells her, "don't close your eyes," because he believes she is fantasizing about the other guy.

Music video

The music video was directed by Michael McClary and premiered in mid-1988.

Covers

The song was covered by

Alan Jackson Alan Eugene Jackson (born October 17, 1958) is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for blending traditional honky-tonk and mainstream country pop sounds (for a style widely regarded as "neotraditional country"), as well as penning many o ...

for Keith Whitley's 1995 tribute album, by

Kellie Pickler Kellie Dawn Pickler (born June 28, 1986) is an American country music singer, songwriter, and television personality. Pickler gained fame as a contestant on the fifth season of ''American Idol'' and finished in sixth place. In 2006, she signed ...

for the deluxe edition of her 2008 '' self-titled second album'', and by The Voice Season 6 contestant Jake Worthington for his audition song and fan-chosen final performance.

Garth Brooks Troyal Garth Brooks (born February 7, 1962) is an American country music singer and songwriter. His integration of pop and rock elements into the country genre has earned him popularity, particularly in the United States with success on the co ...

performed the song at the 50th

CMA Awards The Country Music Association Awards, also known as the CMA Awards or CMAs, are presented to country music artists and broadcasters to recognize outstanding achievement in the country music industry. The televised annual presentation ceremony f ...

whilst Whitley's widow

Lorrie Morgan Loretta Lynn Morgan (born June 27, 1959) is an American country music singer and actress. She is the daughter of George Morgan, widow of Keith Whitley, and ex-wife of Jon Randall and Sammy Kershaw, all of whom are also country music singers. Mo ...

looked emotional in the audience.

also recorded this song for '' The Ultimate Collection'' box set only sold at Target stores in 2016.

Commercial performance

The song reached number one on ''Billboard''s Hot Country Songs on chart dated August 13, 1988. After it became available for digital download, the song has sold 475,000 digital copies in the United States as of March 2019.

Charts

Weekly chart

Year-end Chart

Don't Close Your Eyes (Ashamed Remix)

On July 1, 2015,

Billboard Magazine ''Billboard'' (stylized as ''billboard'') is an American music and entertainment magazine published weekly by Penske Media Corporation. The magazine provides music charts, news, video, opinion, reviews, events, and style related to the music ...

announced the release of " Don't Close Your Eyes (Ashamed)" a tribute to

on his 60th birthday. The song is performed by

Shady Records Shady Records is an American record label founded by rapper Eminem and his manager Paul Rosenberg, after the highly successful release of Eminem's ''The Slim Shady LP'' (1999). Shady has seen negative times when being part of the unsuccessful i ...

recording artist Kxng Crooked fka

Crooked I Dominick Antron Wickliffe (born September 23, 1976), better known by his stage names Crooked I and Kxng Crooked, (stylised as KXNG Crooked and pronounced "King Crooked") is an American rapper from Long Beach, California. He is best known as a for ...

(from

Slaughterhouse A slaughterhouse, also called abattoir (), is a facility where animals are slaughtered to provide food. Slaughterhouses supply meat, which then becomes the responsibility of a packaging facility. Slaughterhouses that produce meat that is no ...

), Truth Ali, Jonathan Hay and Morgan McRae. "I feel the rap verses really capture the emotional torment of the original," producer Jonathan Hay tells Billboard. "As you may or may not know, Keith Whitley died from alcoholism -- Kxng Crooked talks about his own chilling battle with alcoholism in his verse," he adds of the evocative tribute. "One of the main reasons I wanted to do this tribute is because I was raised in Kentucky, just like Keith Whitley," Hay continues. "Being all over the United States, it seems Whitley is more iconic back home in the 'Bluegrass State' than he is everywhere else. We want to change that." "Don't Close Your Eyes (The Ashamed Remix)" is part of ''

The Urban Hitchcock LP ''The Urban Hitchcock LP'' is the debut studio album from Jonathan Hay and features notable names in the hip-hop genre. Jonathan Hay is an outspoken veteran producer and publicist. The deluxe version, ''Deluxe: The Urban Hitchcock LP'' was rel ...

''. The music video premiered on

MTV News MTV News is the news production division of MTV. The service is available in the US with localized versions on MTV's global network. In February 2016, MTV Networks confirmed it would refresh the MTV News brand in 2016, to compete with the likes ...

on August 27.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Don't Close Your Eyes (Song) 1988 singles 1988 songs Keith Whitley songs Alan Jackson songs Kellie Pickler songs Billboard Hot Country Songs number-one singles of the year Songs written by Bob McDill Country ballads Song recordings produced by Garth Fundis RCA Records Nashville singles