accessing two databases within one script

I have a page where I need to access two different databases in mysql. After accessing the first database I used mysql_close($connection); and then code to access the other database. The first database access works fine, the second gives me the following error message: *Warning*: mysql_query(): Can't connect to local MySQL server through socket '/tmp/mysql.sock' I've tried not using the mysql_close statement. But that option doesn't select the new database, it seems to stay connected to the previous one, despite my specifying a new database to access. Can I not access two databases within the same script?