‘End of the day, dreams slip through… Sleepy eyes, sleep tight, sleep tight, sleepy eyes…’
The soothing lyrics and gentle, repetitive chant of the chorus evokes nursery tales and childhood lullabies. But the women who created the song may have to wait some time before they are able to sing it to their own children. ‘Sleepy Eyes’ was written as part of a Music in Prisons project, to help women on the inside connect with their families on the outside – and perhaps reflect on their own early years in the process.
The project – undertaken by Music in Prisons, part of the Irene Taylor Trust (ITT) – saw prisoners in Askham Grange, Low Newton and Durham work with a writer, an artist and a musician to devise a series of songs that were later made into a songbook. It is one of many success stories since 1995, when the charity was established in the memory of Irene Taylor, wife of the late Lord Chief Justice Peter Taylor.
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