Eye In The Sky

The rumor has it that this song gets its theme from George Orwell's 1984, which revolves around a dystopian future where citizens are constantly monitored by a totalitarian world government. However, even the official page of the Alan Parsons project that talks about this song doesn't mention any connection. There is also nothing in the lyrics to connect it with this novel - those who have read the book know there are no specific references to "eyes in the sky," i.e. satellites and such, but just cameras and telescreens everywhere. Meanwhile, the lyrics make no reference to Big Brother, Ingsoc, Newspeak, proles, ministries, Room 101, and so on, which is common jargon in the book. So, let's just say this is unconfirmed, and caution about making snap judgments regarding a novel that has become such a potent counterculture icon in exactly the same way that Guy Fawkes - and Che Guevara before him - became counterculture fashion. Otherwise we'd end up with a doubleplusungood untruth. A little more credible is the claim that it's a reference to ceiling cameras, particularly in casinos, where the same term "eye in the sky" is used. However, the basic message is that of somebody dumping a lover, while asserting that they know too well how the reaction will be. Alan Parsons did cop to a 1984 association on the album as a whole, telling Top 2000 a gogo: "We wanted to base the album on the sort of concept of big brother is watching you - there's always a camera watching you, there's always a helicopter in the sky overseeing you, and you can read a line of small newspaper print from space."

Lead vocals were from Eric Woolfson, Parsons' main collaborator. He was Parsons' lyricist and manager. The Alan Parsons Project, which was strictly a studio group at the time, used various members on lead vocals; Woolfson would usually record a guide vocal and Alan Parsons, who was also the group's producer, would decide whose voice best suited the song. In later years, Parsons toured with a band and sang this song during performances.

In some ways, this is an extension of The Alan Parsons Project's previous album The Turn of a Friendly Card, which deals with gambling. Woolfson spent a lot of time in casinos and was fascinated with the hidden cameras watching his every move.