Don’t Close Your Eyes – Kix | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning

Chart Performance: Pop (#11) & Mainstream Rock (#16); 1989

Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne

Unlike most 1980’s hair bands, Kix created music that owed as much to glam (and, therefore, bubblegum) and new wave as it did to the hard rockin’ sounds of their contemporaries. The five first called themselves Shooze, then the Generators, before settling on Kix. Kix spent month-after-month burning up club stages around Baltimore before being signed to Atlantic in 1981. Their self-titled debut didn’t make many waves beyond the Chesapeake circuit, nor did Cool Kids or Midnight Dynamite. Plus, there was more bad news. Poison – a band from Pennsylvania that had often shown up at Kix gigs – had relocated to Los Angeles where lead singer Bret Michaels was thrilling audiences with moves copped from Kix vocalist Steve Whiteman. To make matters worse, Poison proceeded to rack up hit singles and multi-platinum albums while Kix’ career languished. Finally, Kix got on the chart scoreboard in 1989 with the monster anti-suicide ballad, Don’t Close Your Eyes, and the platinum LP, Blow My Fuse.

This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.

Produced by:

  • Tom Werman
  • Duane Baron
  • John Purdell

Lyrics Written by:

  • Bob Halligan Jr.
  • John Palumbo
  • Donnie Purnell

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Ed Osborne

Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).