Spy On, Eye: On I is an audio narrative about a character being spied on during a phone call. The entire narrative is set within the phone line being used, starting in the house of the one being spied on and moving to the headquarters of the spies. Throughout the narrative it is unclear whether or not the character has done anything to warrant the spying but, towards the end of the piece, it becomes apparent that the spies believe he is doing something threatening. Spy On, Eye: On I was written in the fall of 2008 in response to reports of the domestic spy program and unwarranted wiretaps that were so prevalent during the George W. Bush administration at that time. While it was not necessarily intended as a protest-piece, it was written to depict the complexities of such a program by exposing the listener to the possibilities, consequences and uncertainties that may result. I chose to approach the composition in this way because of the nonchalant response I heard to these reports by many people around me. Many of these responses took the form of “If you’re not doing anything wrong, what is there to worry about?”.
