Songfacts®:

• "Close To Me" is about the confusing, paradoxical feelings that often come with our closest relationships. In the song, Ashley Riley sings about yearning for an unnamed person to be close enough to her that she can push them away. The impulse doesn't really make any sense, but neither does much of anything about love, whether it be romantic, platonic, or familial.
  
  Riley told Songfacts that the inspiration for the song came from a real relationship, but she didn't identify that person. She'd come to realize that relationships are often like passing seasons in our lives, and "Close To Me" is about the end of one such seasonal relationship.
  
  Riley explained that, regarding the actual relationship that sparked this song, she had come to realize that her life's "season" with the unnamed person had drawn to a close.
  
  The final song, though, is not directly autobiographical. As the tune worked through Riley's creative imagination, it took on a more universal shape. The end result is not so much about any specific story but is instead about the general frustration and pain of difficult relationships with people we care deeply about.
• "Close To Me" won Riley top prize at the Midwest Music Expo listening panel in May 2020. She released it as a single in August of the same year. Riley is based in Decatur, Illinois, and is a fixture of the Midwest music scene, having been performing and recording music in that region for a decade by 2020.