Here is the song.

Despite the tragic nature of the situation described in the song, there is something admirable about the revelation of an emotional truth that has been suppressed for so long. The truth is not just ‘nice to have’. Saying the truth about how we are feeling is cathartic, like screaming into a pillow. It’s something our bodies compel us to do, sometimes under much duress.

Perhaps the body has a truth reflex, an inner chiropractor that realigns us after the mangling we do to ourselves whilst trying to accommodate lies. Listen to frustration being cracked out of the singers back, and how the release of the chorus brings the clarity to the surface.

State lines is a man realigning himself to truth of how he feels about his romantic partner. Gone is the glow of the romcom. Sweet nothings have turned into sour somethings. There is no self-deception here – “let me introduce you to all of the ways I can let you down”.

The analogy of the ‘state line’ is a perfect, it elevates the song to golden status. It’s so good. It evokes so many ideas, the long journey, boundaries, home and foreign lands, tiredness, distance and deviation. And all these meanings are relevant to context of a relationship that’s fallen short of expectations.

The instruments playing in the song have such character. They give the song a rugged feel, the type you can grasp with your hands. It has been said once that ‘you can’t grasp a seamless mountain’. Well, you can grasp into the ridges of this song, into the pockets of the drum rhythm, the piercing horns, the offbeat of the drums and the riffs of the electric guitar. The truth is said to be a double-edged sword, and when its done slicing you, maybe you too will have enough character to be grasped with both hands.

Here is the song.

Commitment lies at the heart of great things: When you commit money to a savings account, the magic of compound interest happens. When a person commits to a relationship, whether that person is a parent, a partner or a friend, real love can develop. When talent commits itself to a field or a discipline, then genius can flourish.

And so it is with music, exemplified by this arrangement; Listen to how the bass and percussion remain committed to the rhythm and in so doing, the saxophone and piano can fully express themselves over the course of the song.

Here’s the magical part – I think something similar happens inside of us – the listener – in the course of listening. Once we become comfortable with the rhythm, our spirit can drift off into open space, safe in the knowledge that we are supported, that there is a path that we can always return to, so that we won’t get lost. And so we can begin to give voice to emotions and expressions latent within us.

‘I’ll close my eyes’ is a beautiful name for a song. There are so many things it could mean. We don’t close our eyes unless we feel safe. And for many people the truth is their surroundings are not safe, and people in their lives cannot be trusted. In such a world, it can be easy to close one’s eyes as a form of escapism – like the monkey emoji 🙈 – but I think there is a grander form of ‘closing one’s eyes’ – the type that the song alludes to. The type that says I’ll close my eyes and create my own island of trust and safety as a subversive act of defiance against a cruel and unjust world. That’s how I make sense of the hope-tinged sadness in the saxophone.

I’m glad that many brilliant musicians have committed themselves to mastering this jazz standard over the years. There is no better way to drift off to sleep than to play this song on repeat…