Today we’re going back, right back to 1982, a year after I was born. Why so far back? Because I’ve been soaking up music for as long as my ears were open, and Alan Parsons Project is certainly a strong memory when I think of the music my parents listened to. I have a whole playlist of tracks that shaped my childhood, but let’s move onto “Eye in the Sky”.
Getting to #3 on the Billboard charts in October 1982, it “Eye in the Sky” sat alongside songs like “Abracadabra” by Steve Miller Band, Chicago’s slightly cheesy ballad (IMHO) “Hard to Say I’m Sorry” and Olivia Newton-John’s “Heart Attack”. I can’t help but think when I listen to most of Alan Parson’s music that it has a quality that makes it feel ahead of its time, but also of its time all at once.
The song starts and you’re there in the soundscape, the snyth melody, the chug of the bass guitar and the sliding wail of some kind of synth that I am out of my depth to describe. The drums are reasonably crisp but not in your face and create a nice frame the music.
The intro is 15 seconds, just enough to get the vibe happening, then Eric Woolfson starts singing. Verse 2 picks up a new sweet guitar part, building up to the chorus.
The lyric is about a relationship ending, and in my mind I can feel the frustration of telling someone you’ve had enough and you can see through their bs:
Don’t say words you’re gonna regret
Don’t let the fire rush to your head
I’ve heard the accusation before
And I ain’t gonna take any more
Believe me
Alan Parsons Project – Eye in The Sky
The delivery of the song isn’t angry though, I can feel some shade in there for sure. Something I love is that the music and the drums pull back at the end of the chorus on the line ‘I don’t need to see anymore to know that’ and allow the vocal to come through. It makes you stop and think for a few seconds, before it brings in the super catchy ‘I can read your mind’, perfectly responded to with the backing vocal line ‘Looking at you’.
There’s another verse that builds on the story of relationship frustration and we’re into a double chorus, a new guitar part coming in, starting to add some colour to things as it takes over the main melody and leads to the outro. I love a good fade out on a song and this is no exception. It’s like your ears have just cottoned on to that juicy guitar part, but it starts to fade away, making it a song you want to listen to again.
I’m always dubious about reading things on the internet about songs, because I know for this time period all media was physical and I don’t have the means to go trawling through archives for articles. I doubt they’d be able to answer the questions I have anyway. There’s an idea that the album Eye in the Sky is linked to the novel 1984, the idea of Big Brother and the CCTV being rolled out in the UK at the time. I feel the chorus echos that, but I don’t think the verse does. But with these two concepts in my brain I thought – what if the reason this guy is so angry is because with this new surveillance tech, he has evidence of his partner cheating and the lines in the third verse ‘find another fool like before, cause I ain’t gonna take any more’ is referencing his partner going back to their past lover? I don’t want to over analyse it, but I think after listening to this song throughout my life, it probably deserved a little thought.
As a songwriter, I’m always looking at ways to write songs to be cohesive and so the story and ideas are articulate. This song doesn’t seem to worry that the verse and chorus are not related. Looking at just how successful “Eye in the Sky” is, even 40 years later, it shows that sometimes you don’t need to follow the rules.