Molina & Johnson was a collaboration between Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason… Read Full Bio ↴Molina & Johnson was a collaboration between Magnolia Electric Co.’s Jason Molina* and Centro-matic front-man Will Johnson. Two of the finest indie-folk songwriters of the last decade came together under the Texas sky to quietly lay to tape 14 crushing, haunting tunes, leaving space enough in each to match their surroundings. In this collaboration between Molina and Johnson, each seem to hold the other’s talents to fire and elevate both performance and creativity. In the friendly sharing of ideas, Molina and Johnson became two poets in a workshop, aimed to craft a singular, searing elegy.

The album is also abound with contributions from other fine musicians, such as Magnolia Electric Co.’s Michael Kapinus and Texas songwriter Sarah Jaffe, whose plaintive vocals on “All Gone, All Gone,” accompanied by the sound of a crying saw, will stir in your gut for days. Other accomplished contributors include Howard Draper, Bryan VanDivier and Scott Danbom.

* Jason Molina passed on from this life at the age of 39.

Don't Take My Night From Me
Molina & Johnson Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

A whisper to the morning light:
Don't take my night from me.
Now or never is all i see.
Time follows time.
The rising does not have to rise.
It's already in dana's eyes.
The rising does not have to rise.
It's all written in her eyes.

Don't you sleep too soon.
Oh, my angel, try to wait,
For the territory's shape does change
With the shadows of my moon.

I said it once, but i meant it twice.
Could not leave it too soon.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Molina & Johnson's "Don't Take My Night From Me" seem to be about holding onto a moment of clarity or peace, as if the morning light represents reality setting in and taking away a more poetic and dreamy state of mind. The singer pleads with the morning not to "take [their] night," suggesting that they want to hold onto the feeling or thoughts they had during the night, which may have been more meaningful or insightful. They may be experiencing a moment of transition or change, as evidenced by the line, "Now or never is all I see," which could suggest a sense of urgency or foreboding about the future. The idea of time following time reinforces this feeling of inevitability or cyclical motion.

The next two lines are a bit cryptic, but seem to refer to someone named Dana, whose eyes hold some kind of important insight or secret. It's almost as if the singer is suggesting that the truth can be found within this person's gaze, rather than in the tangible world around them. The repetition of "the rising does not have to rise" could be interpreted as a way of saying that things don't always have to progress in a linear or predictable way, and that change or transformation can happen in unexpected ways. The singer is urging their "angel" to stay awake and not give into sleep too soon, as if there is still more to be discovered or experienced.

The final lines suggest that something important has been said or discovered, but that the singer is not ready to let it go just yet. They want to hold onto this moment for a little longer, even if it means pushing back against the natural order of things.

Line by Line Meaning

A whisper to the morning light:
Softly speaking to the early daylight,

Don't take my night from me.
Please do not deprive me of my nighttime.

Now or never is all I see.
All I perceive is that my moment is fleeting.

Time follows time.
One moment lapses into the next.

The rising does not have to rise.
The sun does not have to ascend.

It's already in Dana's eyes.
The beauty of the world is present in Dana's eyes.

The rising does not have to rise.
The sun does not have to ascend.

It's all written in her eyes.
Dana's eyes hold all the secrets.

Don't you sleep too soon.
Don't go to slumber too early.

Oh, my angel, try to wait,
My beloved, delay if you can,

For the territory's shape does change
As the shadows cast by my moon become rearranged