After splitting up with Alan Parsons during the recording of Freudiana, Woolfson has pursued musical theatre. Those are mainly performed in Germany and Austria, but also in Korea and Japan.
Contents
Life before The Alan Parsons Project:
He was born in 1945 (18 March 1945 – 2 December 2009) in Glasgow, Scotland, and started composing music in his early teens. He moved to London where he found work as a session pianist, at the age of eighteen. The record producer for the Rolling Stones, Andrew Oldham, signed him up as a songwriter. During the following years, Woolfson wrote songs for such artists as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, The Tremeloes, Marmalade, Dave Berry, Peter Noone. His songs were recorded by over one hundred artists both in Europe and America. During the sixties he worked with two unknown writers: Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
In the early seventies, Eric turned his hand to management and was instantly successful. His first two signings were Carl Douglas, (whose record Kung Fu Fighting was one of the biggest selling hits of all time) and engineer/record producer Alan Parsons.
The start of The Alan Parsons Project:
In 1975, Woolfson joined forces with record producer Alan Parsons who was a recording engineer on many Beatles and Paul McCartney albums as well as having engineered Pink Floyd’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’.
Eric and Alan formed a new kind of collaboration that would allow Parson’s engineering skills to be exploited to the full and at the same time give Woolfson a vehicle for his talents as a songwriter/lyricist. The Alan Parsons Project was born. From 1976-1987, Eric has conceived and wrote the lyrics for all ten albums by The Alan Parsons Project (he and Parsons collaborated on writing the music), which have achieved world-wide sales in excess of forty million.
Splitting up:
Freudiana was originally meant to be the eleventh album by The Alan Parsons Project. While recording the album, Brian Brolly entered the picture and he helped steer the album in a new direction. Brolly was previously a partner with Andrew Lloyd Webber, and together they created such musicals as Cats. With Brolly's help, Woolfson was able to turn Freudiana into a stage musical.
Before the Freudiana stage production opened in 1990, a double-length studio album was released. The musical had a successful run, and it was planned that the show would open in other cities. However, plans were put on hold when a lawsuit broke out between Brolly and Woolfson, each fighting for control of the project. In the end, Brolly won.
The studio disc (the "white" album) was quite difficult to obtain for a while. There was also a double-length cast disc (the "black" album) which is currently out of print.
The afterlife:
Woolfson was eager to write for musical theatre. He explained his career switch during an interview by MusicalWorld on July 7, 2004: "I eventually developed The Alan Parsons Project as a vehicle but then I realised that there was more to it than that and that Andrew Lloyd Webber was right and that the stage musical was a fulfilling media for a writer like myself. I got into stage musicals in the mid-eighties." His musicals are mainly performed in Germany. This was for two reasons: The Alan Parsons Project was well known in Germany, and at that time the arts were very well funded there.
His first musical premiered in Vienna in 1990: Freudiana, about Sigmund Freud. The success of this first work led to Woolfson’s second musical Gaudi (concerning the Spanish architect Antonio Gaudi) (1995), which ran for over five years in several German productions. Gambler, Woolfson’s third musical also premiered in Germany in 1996 and had a first run of over 500 performances. Gambler has had five productions in Korea, one of which also toured Japan in 2002 (the first time a Korean language production had been staged in this way). A fourth musical Edgar Allan Poe, based on the life of the author, was given a demonstration production at Abbey Road studios, London in 2003. This musical was released in March 2010 as More Tales of Mystery and Imagination on CD and DVD
Dancing with Shadows (based on the anti-war play Forest Fire by the Korean playwright Cham Bum-Suk and with a book by Ariel Dorfman) was premiered in July 2007 in Korea
Personal life and death:
Woolfson was active in the British Social Democratic Party or SDP.
Woolfson was married to Hazel from 1969 until his death from kidney cancer in London[6] in the early hours of 2 December 2009. He is survived by both his daughters.
excerpt from:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Woolfson
Closer To Heaven
Eric Woolfson Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Silently calling, no one is there
Oh bird that is flying so high and so free
Closer to heaven than you and me
Voices of strangers keep me from sleep
Guardian angels watch over the deep
A ship that is sailing way out to the sea
Visions of rain fall out of blue skies
Rivers of tears fall out of dry eyes
Answer my question, tell me no lies
Is this the real world or a fool's paradise?
Wind that is blowing so wild and so free
Closer to heaven than you and me
Closer to heaven longing to be
Closer to heaven than you and me
Visions of rain fall out of blue skies
Rivers of tears fall out of dry eyes
Answer my question, tell me no lies
Is this the real world or a fool's paradise?
Love that lies sleeping wakes in the night
Secrets for keeping that won't see the light
I look to the future and I hope it will be
Closer to heaven than you and me
Closer to heaven longing to be
Closer to heaven than you and me
The first verse of Eric Woolfson's song, "Closer to Heaven," sets the tone for the rest of the lyrics, as the verses describe the longing for something higher - something out of reach. Rising and falling "lighter than air" and silently calling out, the bird flying "so high and so free" is "closer to heaven" than the singer and anyone else. This is a metaphor for the idea that there are things beyond human grasp - things that are closer to heaven.
The second verse mentions "voices of strangers" keeping the singer from sleep, while "guardian angels" watch over the deep. A "ship that is sailing way out to the sea" is closer to heaven than the singer as well. These elements suggest a sense of isolation, a lack of understanding and a search for meaning that transcends this reality. The repetition of the phrase, "Closer to heaven than you and me," emphasizes the singer's growing desire to achieve the unattainable.
The chorus speaks of visions of rain falling and rivers of tears, asking if this is the real world or a fool's paradise. The wind is "blowing wild and so free" - another metaphor for the lack of control over something much larger than oneself, suggesting a sense of entrapment. Finally, the song ends with a message of hope. The singer looks to the future for the possibility of being "closer to heaven" and thus finding a sense of comfort and purpose.
Overall, the lyrics to "Closer to Heaven" are an expression of the desire for something greater - something that lies beyond our human experience. It speaks to our inherent need for meaning and purpose, and of our endless quest for a sense of completion.
Line by Line Meaning
Rising and falling, lighter than air
I am experiencing emotional ups and downs that feel insubstantial and weightless
Silently calling, no one is there
Despite my turmoil, I feel a sense of peace and am reaching out for some kind of connection
Oh bird that is flying so high and so free
I envy the carefree freedom of birds who seem unhindered by life's challenges
Closer to heaven than you and me
Birds are able to soar higher in the sky than humans, representing a desire to be closer to a state of divinity
Voices of strangers keep me from sleep
The presence of people I don't know is keeping me from finding rest and inner peace
Guardian angels watch over the deep
I hope that some kind of spiritual presence, like protective angels, is keeping an eye on me through the difficulties
A ship that is sailing way out to the sea
The image of a ship sailing into the vast unknown ocean speaks to a feeling of being adrift or lost
Visions of rain fall out of blue skies
The unexpected arrival of rain on a sunny day represents how life can be unpredictable and harsh
Rivers of tears fall out of dry eyes
Even when one thinks they've run out of tears to cry, emotions can still pour out unexpectedly
Answer my question, tell me no lies
I'm looking for honesty and clarity about the nature of reality, even if the truth is unpleasant
Is this the real world or a fool's paradise?
I'm questioning whether the world around me is genuine and authentic or an illusory, false reality
Wind that is blowing so wild and so free
The wind symbolizes both the uncontrollable chaos of life and a desire to be free from constraints
Closer to heaven than you and me
The wind's ability to move and exist all around us illustrates the desire to transcend earthly limitations and connect with something greater
Love that lies sleeping wakes in the night
The idea that love is dormant during the day but active at night represents the way emotions can bubble up when one is most vulnerable
Secrets for keeping that won't see the light
Some things are kept buried and hidden for a reason, and they won't ever be exposed to others
I look to the future and I hope it will be
Despite present challenges, I'm optimistic that things will improve and be better in time
Closer to heaven than you and me
I'm striving for a sense of transcendence, hoping to be closer to something divine and beyond my immediate experience
Closer to heaven longing to be
At the core of the song, there is a desire to be closer to something greater than oneself
Closer to heaven than you and me
Again emphasizing the desire to transcend earthly limitations to be closer to something divine
Contributed by Sebastian G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.