King was born on the 24th August 1979 in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.A., the first of two daughters. While King was a small child, her father noticed her natural musical ability, and encouraged her interest in music. She was introduced to the guitar at the age of four, and played for several years, but after taking up the drums a few years later, they became her primary instrument as an adolescent.
Convinced that her break in music would come from being a drummer, King played in bands in high school with classmate Morgan Jahnig, who would later become the bassist of Old Crow Medicine Show. Upon graduating from The Westminster Schools in Atlanta in 1998, the two friends made their way to New York University. During her time there, King picked up the guitar again, and revisited the finger-style techniques that intrigued her as a child. From there, King played a few occasional gigs and busked in the New York subways.
In February 2006, Rolling Stone released a list of "The New Guitar Gods", with King as the sole woman and youngest artist honoured. In addition to a ten-year career that includes six LP and two EP albums, King has also spent significant time scoring music for television and film. She worked alongside Eddie Vedder and Michael Brook, contributing the music for the soundtrack to Sean Penn's Into the Wild, for which King, Vedder, and Brook were nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Original Score.
King's style combines fret-tapping with slap bass techniques, using the guitar for percussive beats, as well as sound layering and looping. Her playing style has been compared to Michael Hedges and Preston Reed; she explicitly cites the latter as an influence.
Close to Me
Kaki King Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I've made myself so sick
I wish i'd stayed asleep today
I never thought that this day would end
I never thought that tonight could ever be
This close to me
Just try to see in the dark
To feel the fear before you're here
I make the shapes come much too close
I pull my eyes out
Hold my breath
And wait until i shake
But if i had your faith
Then i could make it safe and clean
If only i was sure
That my head on the door was a dream
I've waited hours for this
I've made myself so sick
I wish i'd stayed asleep today
I never thought that this day would end
I never thought that tonight could ever be
This close to me
But if i had your face
I could make it safe and clean
If only i was sure
That my head on the door
Was a dream
In Kaki King's song Close to Me, the lyrics express mixed emotions of anxiety and comfort. The singer is waiting for something to happen but she is making herself sick in anticipation. She wishes she stayed asleep instead of facing the day. The singer is quite fearful, but she still tries to make things work. She wants to feel the fear rather than being numb to it. The singer then goes on to describe how she makes the shapes come closer than they should, and she tries to cope by pulling her eyes out and holding her breath until she shakes.
However, salvation comes in the form of faith. The singer believes that if she had someone's faith, she too could feel safe and clean. She wishes that she was sure that her head on the door was just a dream. The repetitive lines, "I've waited hours for this, I've made myself so sick, I wish I'd stayed asleep today," contrast with the hopeful lyrics of finding safety and peace. The singer feels overwhelmed but also desperately needs to feel safe and secure.
Line by Line Meaning
I've waited hours for this
I've been waiting for this for a long time
I've made myself so sick
I've become physically and mentally unwell due to my anticipation for this
I wish i'd stayed asleep today
I regret waking up today and facing the reality of the situation
I never thought that this day would end
I never anticipated this day to come to a close
I never thought that tonight could ever be
I never thought that tonight could be as close as it is
This close to me
This physically and emotionally close to me right now
Just try to see in the dark
Attempt to understand despite the lack of clarity
Just try to make it work
Attempt to resolve the situation even if it might prove difficult
To feel the fear before you're here
To experience apprehension prior to the impending experience
I make the shapes come much too close
I interpret certain things to be too close to me
I pull my eyes out
I intentionally distort my perception of reality
Hold my breath
I feel severe anxiety
And wait until i shake
I wait until I calm down from my anxious state
But if i had your faith
If I had your trust and confidence
Then i could make it safe and clean
I could make the situation devoid of harm or danger
If only i was sure
If only I was certain
That my head on the door was a dream
That my unrealistic expectations and negative feelings were merely a figment of my imagination
Writer(s): Laurence Andrew Tolhurst, Simon Gallup, Boris Williams, Robert James Smith, Porl Thompson Copyright: Fiction Songs Ltd.
Contributed by Evan B. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Alice
I swear, The Cure are the only band that always seem to inspire amazing covers - I don't think I've ever heard a bad version of one of their songs
Chris
i thought this was one of those songs that could never be sucessfully covered i was so very very wrong this is genius
Ellie Martin
I love this song so much! She has a great voice!
muir66
this is a great cover. i love her voice. =D
madamaphilippa
such a gentle version.....such a godness of guitar!
Heinrich Liebniz
This is the best combination in music ever.
Snafu Art
great song, missing the pain of the original, but still made it her own :)
Dingus 2Chodus
Kaki King should totally do a cover of Lullaby by The Cure!
AlexTD6
Great guitar playing and singing, she's obviously talented. That's guitar playing fom a young age for you!
snugglebear97653
oh man...this is amazing.