"Close Every Door" is a song from the musical ''
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'' by
Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon Rice (born 10 November 1944) is an English lyricist and author. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, ''Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ...
and
Andrew Lloyd Webber. It is the penultimate song of the first act of the musical, sung by
Joseph
Joseph is a common male given name, derived from the Hebrew Yosef (יוֹסֵף). "Joseph" is used, along with "Josef", mostly in English, French and partially German languages. This spelling is also found as a variant in the languages of the mo ...
while imprisoned for his supposed relationship with Potiphar's wife. Along with "
Any Dream Will Do", it is one of the most popular songs from the musical.
In addition to voicing Joseph's despair at being jailed for a
crime he did not commit, the song also touches on the history of
Jewish persecution; for instance, the lyrics "Just give me a number instead of my name... Destroy me completely, then throw me away" reflect the well-documented
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
practices during the
Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
. The lyrics have even been incorporated into a
Seder
The Passover Seder (; he, סדר פסח , 'Passover order/arrangement'; yi, סדר ) is a ritual feast at the beginning of the Jewish holiday of Passover. It is conducted throughout the world on the eve of the 15th day of Nisan in the Hebrew c ...
service for educators in
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
.
Australian singer
Jon English
Jonathan James English (26 March 1949 – 9 March 2016) was an English-born Australian singer, songwriter, musician and actor. He emigrated from England to Australia with his parents in 1961. He was an early vocalist and rhythm guitarist for ...
released a version a single in Australia in 1973.
The song was released as a single by former
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
production, with "Any Dream Will Do" as a B-side. The single peaked 27 in the
. He later sang "Close Every Door" at the
'', sung by the "Joseph" leaving each show as he hands his dreamcoat back to the remaining contestants. On 9 June 2007 ''
won the role of Joseph.
On 10 June 2007, Mead recorded ''Any Dream Will Do'' and was joined by third-placed Lewis Bradley and second-placed
on "Close Every Door". The single was released to raise funds for the BBC's
charity.
On 17 June 2007 Mead's solo track entered the UK singles chart at No.18 on downloads only. A double A-sided CD single of both Mead's solo track and the ensemble recording was released on 18 June 2007. The single, credited to Mead, rose to No.2 on 24 June 2007.
Musically, this song makes use of the
.