'Eyes Are Closed' by Morgan Wallen - Lyrics and Meaning

Coming in at track number 9 on Wallen’s behemoth of a fourth album I’m The Problem, the variously acoustic and trap beat-filled tune about a lost love comes armed with a songwriting team responsible for some absolute Wallen standards, including 'Last Night' (John Byron) and 'I Had Some Help' (Charlie Handsome).

Lyrically it runs firmly down the middle, with Wallen agonising over a past relationship and wondering if his former partner also sees the memories of their broken relationship when her eyes are closed. It’s unclear who the song is about, given that Wallen doesn’t appear to have had a serious relationship since his split with KT Smith in 2019. Still the track has found favour with Wallen’s son Indigo, who implored his father to play it again upon hearing a first demo.

Opening with a gentle acoustic guitar, the track lulls the listener along to the melancholy of its opening lyrics, as Wallen sings vulnerably of falling tears, cold nights and the pain of revisiting old memories and old flames. Despite its sombre opening, it only gets one verse deep before quickly falling into the trademark sounds of the Wallen discography, showcasing sinewy guitar that sits in opposition to the crisp trap beats that accompany them.

"When the tears get to fallin' do you miss my shoulder

When the nights get cold do you still reach over

Do you dodge everywhere, everything that reminds you

Or do you point your wheels down memory lane like I do"

In an introspective moment, Wallen wonders how an ex-flame is coping with their break-up, wondering if she prefers the cold denial of their former life together or, like him, indulges in his tendency to wallow in the sadness of the past.

"When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose

Instead of spending Saturday night alone

Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go

Who do you see when your eyes are closed

‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me

No one else can do the things you do for me

Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost

Who do you see when your eyes are closed"

In a vulnerable state, Wallen wonders self-consciously if his former lover holds onto the relationship in the way that he does. It’s unclear whether Wallen even wants to rekindle the relationship, or whether he simply gains satisfaction from draping his own shadow over his ex’s new love, or from picking at old wounds.

"Do you dream on back to our up all nighters

When my smart ass mouth made the world feel lighter

When you said we were done, did you really mean maybe

Or am I the only one, am I just plain crazy baby"

We get some clue on the timing of the relationship here, suggesting that this is not a recently ended dalliance but one of a bygone era in Wallen’s own life. It’s perhaps also a reflection of Wallen’s changing public status in that time. Gone are the days when his ‘smart ass mouth’ could run without consequence, instead leaving the superstar with the responsibility of celebrity and having his every word pored over.

"When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose

Instead of spending Saturday night alone

Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go

Who do you see when your eyes are closed

‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me

No one else can do the things you do for me

Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost

Who do you see when your eyes are closed

Who do you see when your eyes are closed

‘Cause I can't get you outta my brain these days

Even for a night

I can feel you here, can you feel me there, now and then or every time"

Wallowing in his own inability to move on from the relationship, Wallen climactically admits the all-consuming love he feels for his ex- partner, seemingly resigned to knowing it will make no difference.

"When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose

Instead of spending Saturday night alone

Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go

Who do you see when your eyes are closed

‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me

No one else can do the things you do for me

Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost

Who do you see when your eyes are closed"

Speaking on Theo Von’s This Past Weekend podcast, Morgan revealed that the song is a favourite of his son, Indigo.

Wallen explained, “This album that I've been working on, this is the first time where it seems like he's really starting to put two and two together...I would come home after writing and I'd show him songs this time - this is the first time that he's ever cared”.

He said, “There's a song called ‘Eyes Are Closed’ on my record and I brought it home that night...and I was just playing it, I wasn't even playing it for him, I just had it playing in the background because it was my first time hearing the demo of what we had done that day. He was in the background and he kind of moseyed on over there and started being like, ‘Oh, what's this?’ And after it was done he said, ‘I like that song, daddy’, and it was like the first time he had ever done that”.

Wallen gushed, “It was a special moment for me, something I'll never forget. He said, ‘Play that again’, and I was like, ‘Yeah! This song's a hit for me, no matter what’...That was the first time I had really seen all those dots start connecting.”

When the tears get to fallin' do you miss my shoulder
When the nights get cold do you still reach over
Do you dodge everywhere, everything that reminds you
Or do you point your wheels down memory lane like I do

When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose
Instead of spending Saturday night alone
Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me
No one else can do the things you do for me
Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost
Who do you see when your eyes are closed

Do you dream on back to our up all nighters
When my smart ass mouth made the world feel lighter
When you said we were done, did you really mean maybe
Or am I the only one, am I just plain crazy baby

When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose
Instead of spending Saturday night alone
Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me
No one else can do the things you do for me
Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
Who do you see when your eyes are closed

‘Cause I can't get you outta my brain these days
Even for a night
I can feel you here, can you feel me there, now and then or every time

When you’re crawling into bed with the guy you chose
Instead of spending Saturday night alone
Tell me am I still where your mind’ll go
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
‘Cause baby I can tell ya it’s you for me
No one else can do the things you do for me
Can you feel me in the air baby like a ghost
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
(Ooo)
Who do you see when your eyes are closed
(Ooo)
Who do you see when your eyes are closed

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