| Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) | |
| Cover: | Run the Jewels - Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck) cover art.png |
| Type: | single |
| Artist: | Run the Jewels featuring Zack de la Rocha |
| Album: | Run the Jewels 2 |
| Recorded: | 2014 |
| Genre: | Alternative hip hop |
| Length: | 3:54 |
| Label: | Mass Appeal |
| Producer: | El-P |
| Chronology: | Run the Jewels singles |
| Prev Title: | Oh My Darling Don't Cry |
| Prev Year: | 2014 |
| Next Title: | Rubble Kings Theme (Dynamite) |
| Next Year: | 2015 |
"Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck)" is a song by American hip hop duo Run the Jewels, with guest vocals by Zack de la Rocha.[1] It was released as the second single from their second studio album, Run the Jewels 2 (2014), on September 30, 2014.
El-P explained de la Rocha's participation in the song as the result of a chance encounter: "when I was in L.A. working on the record I bumped in to him literally on the way to the studio. He came by and listened to what we had and a day later was recording with us."[2]
The music video (directed by AG Rojas), which Exclaim! called "fiery",[3] portrays an extended wrestling match between an exhausted white police officer (Shea Whigham) and an equally-exhausted black civilian (LaKeith Stanfield).[4]
Rolling Stone noted that at no point in the fight does either combatant reach for the officer's gun,[5] while Spin stated that it was "immensely raw, nuanced, and powerful", and emphasized that, throughout the fight, "(n)either [combatant] really gains an edge over the other one, and it's unclear why, exactly, they were fighting in the first place."[6] The Riverfront Times (which considered the song to be "incendiary") interpreted the video's concluding scene — the two men fight their way into a house, up a flight of stairs, and into a bedroom, where they collapse on the same bed — to mean that "both men will rest and awaken tomorrow to begin the battle anew".[7]
Fact described the song as "breathless" and "pneumatic",[8] while Vibe found it to be "highly energetic".[9] Stereogum called it "hammering (and) buzzing" and "just a ridiculous banger (...) that you obviously need to hear this minute", and compared its hook — de la Rocha's voice "chopped up" — to the work of Swiss Beatz.[10]
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that it is "arguably [Run the Jewels]' most popular song";[11] similarly, The Daily Reveille declared it to be "(a)rguably the best song on (the album)", lauding de la Rocha's contributions to the song — in particular the "arresting hook at the beginning".[12]