"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 songwriter. He is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote, among other shows, '' Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat'', ''Jesus C ...

and

Andrew Lloyd Webber Andrew Lloyd Webber, Baron Lloyd-Webber (born 22 March 1948) is an English composer and impresario of musical theatre. Several of his musicals have run for more than a decade both in the West End theatre, West End and on Broadway theatre, Broad ...

. It is the penultimate song of the first act of the musical, sung by

Joseph Joseph is a common male name, derived from the Hebrew (). "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 modern-day Nordic count ...

while imprisoned for his supposed relationship with Mrs. Potiphar. 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 (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

practices during the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. The lyrics have even been incorporated into a Seder service for educators in

New South Wales New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...

. 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 S ...

released a version a single in Australia in 1973. The song was released as a single by former

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

children's TV anchor Phillip Schofield in 1992, when he played the role of Joseph in the

London Palladium The London Palladium () is a Grade II* West End theatre located on Argyll Street, London, in Soho. The theatre was designed by Frank Matcham and opened in 1910. The auditorium holds 2,286 people. Hundreds of stars have played there, many wit ...

production, with "Any Dream Will Do" as a B-side. The single peaked 27 in the UK charts. He later sang "Close Every Door" at the

Royal Variety Performance The ''Royal Variety Performance'' is a televised variety show held annually in the United Kingdom to raise money for the Royal Variety Charity (of which King Charles III is life-patron). It is attended by senior members of the British royal ...

. A special cello version of the song was recorded by Julian Lloyd Webber for the 2001 album '' Lloyd Webber Plays Lloyd Webber''. The song was used as the exit song on Andrew Lloyd Webber's

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring ordinary people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 1990s ...

'' Any Dream Will Do'', sung by the "Joseph" leaving each show as he hands his dreamcoat back to the remaining contestants. On 9 June 2007 '' The Phantom of the Opera'' ensemble member and Raoul understudy Lee Mead 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 Keith Jack on "Close Every Door". The single was released to raise funds for the BBC's

Children in Need ''BBC Children in Need'' is the BBC's UK Charitable organization, charity dedicated to supporting disadvantaged children and young people across the country. Established in 1980, the organisation has raised over £1 billion by 2023 through its ...

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.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Close Every Door 1973 singles 1992 singles 2007 singles Jon English songs Donny Osmond songs Jason Donovan songs Songs from Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat Songs with music by Andrew Lloyd Webber Songs with lyrics by Tim Rice 1968 songs