Just who is Alan Parsons, anyway? Is he a man? A group? Was he a musical movement? How was it that Alan Parsons saw into the future and saw what would happen when satellites were deployed into orbit? Was Alan Parsons some kind of proponent of GPS tracking systems? Was he a psychic? Or was it just a moment of passing paranoid fancy?
Alan Parsons is, first and foremost, a man. He is a handsome man -- a fierce man. Secondly, he is an Englishman. He got his start working as a producer -- albeit is a minor capacity -- on the Beatles album, Abbey Road. That led to more extensive work on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. The perpetual success of Dark Side set up work with Al Stewart and The Hollies. So magical were his talents that rumor has it he was asked to join Pink Floyd, but declined to pursue his so-called Project.
Though the Project had been an idea of Parsons's for so time, it was only after meeting with Scottish singer, Eric Woolfson, in 1975, that he decided to move forward with actual recording. For the next ten years, from 1975 to 1987, the group would become a seminal pillar of progressive rock. They would contribute such classics as The Raven, Time, and Eye In the Sky. It was this last song, Eye In The Sky that would become the band's signature song.
The 1982 song was an ode to George Orwell, inspired by his seminal Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the eye representing the ever-presence of Big Brother. But the song was nearly dropped altogether. As Parsons explained, "I hated the song when we first started recording it -- I was quite ready to drop it altogether. Then we hit upon the hypnotic guitar chugs and it all came together." To the delight of millions, the song was release on the seminal, eponymous 1979 album.
The lyrics are straightforward and evocative. They suggest an egomaniacal sense of delusional power. What is striking is how the titular "eye" dovetails nicely with the hundreds of global satellites capable of tracking us. Indeed, they have to track us. We've asked them to track us, thanks to our GPS enabled phones, laptops and netbooks. They are the eyes in the sky, looking at us, though they cannot read our minds -- yet.
Alan Parsons is, first and foremost, a man. He is a handsome man -- a fierce man. Secondly, he is an Englishman. He got his start working as a producer -- albeit is a minor capacity -- on the Beatles album, Abbey Road. That led to more extensive work on Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon. The perpetual success of Dark Side set up work with Al Stewart and The Hollies. So magical were his talents that rumor has it he was asked to join Pink Floyd, but declined to pursue his so-called Project.
Though the Project had been an idea of Parsons's for so time, it was only after meeting with Scottish singer, Eric Woolfson, in 1975, that he decided to move forward with actual recording. For the next ten years, from 1975 to 1987, the group would become a seminal pillar of progressive rock. They would contribute such classics as The Raven, Time, and Eye In the Sky. It was this last song, Eye In The Sky that would become the band's signature song.
The 1982 song was an ode to George Orwell, inspired by his seminal Nineteen Eighty-Four, with the eye representing the ever-presence of Big Brother. But the song was nearly dropped altogether. As Parsons explained, "I hated the song when we first started recording it -- I was quite ready to drop it altogether. Then we hit upon the hypnotic guitar chugs and it all came together." To the delight of millions, the song was release on the seminal, eponymous 1979 album.
The lyrics are straightforward and evocative. They suggest an egomaniacal sense of delusional power. What is striking is how the titular "eye" dovetails nicely with the hundreds of global satellites capable of tracking us. Indeed, they have to track us. We've asked them to track us, thanks to our GPS enabled phones, laptops and netbooks. They are the eyes in the sky, looking at us, though they cannot read our minds -- yet.
About the Author:
If you're a fan of GPS tracking systems, you're sure to be a fan of Alan Parsons, Eric Woolfson, and The Project. Keep your ears in tune, your mind open, and your eyes on the sky.
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