Born in Los Angeles, he entered the film industry in 1976, initially as an actor. He made his film scoring debut in 1980 for the film Forbidden Zone directed by his older brother Richard Elfman. He has since been nominated for four Academy Awards and won a Grammy Award for Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media for Tim Burton's Batman and an Emmy Award for his Desperate Housewives theme. Elfman was honored with the prestigious Richard Kirk award at the 2002 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.
He is the son of novelist Blossom Elfman and the brother of director Richard Elfman.
Elfman was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of Blossom Elfman (née Bernstein), a writer and teacher, and Milton Elfman, a community in the Baldwin Hills area of Los Angeles. He spent much of his time in the local movie theatre, adoring the music of such film composers as Bernard Herrmann and Franz Waxman.
Stating that he hung out with the "band nerds" in high school, he started a ska band. After dropping out of high school, he followed his brother Richard to France, where he performed with Le Grand Magic Circus, an avant-garde musical theater group. Violin in tow, Elfman next journeyed to Africa where he traveled through Ghana, Mali, and Upper Volta, absorbing new musical styles, including the Ghanaian highlife genre which would eventually influence his own music. Elfman contracted malaria during his one-year stay and was often sick. Eventually he returned home to the United States, where he began to take Balinese music lessons at the CalArts. He was never officially a student at the institute, nonetheless, the instructor encouraged him to continue learning. Elfman stated, "He just laughed, and said, 'Sit. Play.' I continued to sit and play for a couple years." At this time, his brother was forming a new musical theater group, The Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo. The group performed the music for Richard's debut feature film, Forbidden Zone. Danny Elfman composed his first score for the film and played the role of Satan. By the time the movie was completed, they had taken the name Oingo Boingo and begun recording and touring as a rock group.
In 1985, Tim Burton and Paul Reubens invited Elfman to write the score for their first feature film, Pee-wee's Big Adventure. Elfman was apprehensive at first because of his lack of formal training, but with orchestration assistance from Oingo Boingo guitarist and arranger Steve Bartek, he achieved his goal of emulating the mood of such composers as Nino Rota and Bernard Herrmann. In the booklet for the first volume of Music for a Darkened Theatre, Elfman described the first time he heard his music played by a full orchestra as one of the most thrilling experiences of his life.[citation needed] Elfman immediately developed a rapport with Burton and has gone on to score all but two of Burton's major studio releases: Ed Wood, scored by Howard Shore, which was under production while Elfman and Burton were having a fight, and Sweeney Todd, an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen Sondheim Broadway musical. He also, more recently, accompanied Tim Burton in the composition of music for "Almost Alice", the soundtrack for Alice in Wonderland.
Burton has said of his relationship with Elfman: "We don't even have to talk about the music. We don't even have to intellectualize – which is good for both of us, we're both similar that way. We're very lucky to connect" (Breskin, 1997).
In 2021 he released "Big Mess", his first non-soundtrack album since 1984's "So-Lo", which is often considered to rather be an Oingo Boingo album due to the presence of many other band members.
Elfman has three children: Lola, born in 1979; Mali, born in 1984; and Oliver, born in 2005. On November 29, 2003, Elfman married film actress Bridget Fonda. In 1997 he scored A Simple Plan – his only score for one of her films to date (although he did compose a cue for the film Army of Darkness, in which Fonda has a cameo). He is the uncle of actor Bodhi Elfman who is married to actress Jenna Elfman, known most notably in her role as Dharma in the TV series Dharma and Greg.
According to Plan
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's a rather nice day
A day for a glorious wedding
A rehearsal my dear, to be perfectly clear
A rehearsal for a glorious wedding
Assuming nothing happens that we don't really know
That nothing unexpected interferes with the show
Every last little thing
Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go
According to plan
Our son will be married
According to plan
Our family carried
Elevated to the heights of society
To the costume balls
In the hallowed halls
Rubbing elbows with the finest
Having crumpets with Her Highness
We'll be there, we'll be seen
Having tea with the queen
We'll forget everything
That we've ever, ever been
(dialogue)
It's a terrible day
Now don't be that way
It's a terrible day for a wedding
It's a sad, sad state of affairs we're in
That has led to this ominous wedding
How could our family have come to this?
To marry off our daughter to the nouveau riche
They're so common
So coarse
Oh it couldn't be worse
Couldn't be worse? I'm afraid I disagree
They could be land-rich, bankrupt aristocracy
Without a penny to their name
Just like you, and me
Oh dear
And that's why everything
Every last little thing
Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go
According to plan
Our daughter will wed
According to plan
Our family led
From the depths of deepest poverty
To the noble realm
Of our ancestry
And who'd have guessed in a million years
That our daughter with a face
Of an otter in disgrace
Would provide our ticket to a rightful place
(dialogue)
Marriage is a partnership
A little tit for tat
You'd think a lifetime watching us
Might have taught her that
Might have taught her that
Everything must be perfect
Everything must be perfect
Everything must be perfect perfect
That's why everything
Every last little thing
Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go
According to plan
The song According to Plan by Danny Elfman is from the perspective of the parents of a bride and groom who are about to get married. The first verse speaks optimistically about the wedding day, calling it a beautiful and glorious day fit for a wedding. However, the second verse reveals a more cynical perspective, as the parents express disappointment that their daughter is marrying into the "nouveau riche" instead of a more aristocratic family. Despite their reservations, the parents insist that everything must go according to plan, in order to elevate their family's status in society.
Overall, the song is a commentary on societal expectations and the pressures that people feel to conform to them. The parents are so obsessed with the idea of their family achieving "noble" status that they are willing to overlook their own reservations about the marriage. The repeated phrase "everything must be perfect" highlights the importance that society places on appearances and status, and suggests that even personal feelings and emotions must be subjugated to this ideal.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a beautiful day
Today is nice and pleasant
It's a rather nice day
The weather is quite enjoyable
A day for a glorious wedding
This is the perfect day for a stunning wedding
A rehearsal my dear, to be perfectly clear
This is a rehearsal, just to be absolutely clear about that
A rehearsal for a glorious wedding
This rehearsal is for a spectacular wedding
Assuming nothing happens that we don't really know
If nothing unexpected occurs
That nothing unexpected interferes with the show
If there's no unforeseen issue to cause any problem
And that's why every thing
That's the reason that every
Every last little thing
Absolutely everything
Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go
Each and every detail needs to be perfect - even the smallest thing
According to plan
Everything needs to be executed according to the plan previously set up
Our son will be married
Our son will officially get married
Our family carried
Our family is represented well through this marriage
Elevated to the heights of society
This marriage will help elevate our social status
To the costume balls
We'll attend fancy events where people wear ornate costumes
In the hallowed halls
We'll be in historic, prestigious places
Rubbing elbows with the finest
We'll associate with the most affluent people
Having crumpets with Her Highness
We'll even dine with the Queen herself
We'll be there, we'll be seen
We'll be present and visible
Having tea with the queen
We'll even enjoy tea with the Queen
We'll forget everything
We can forget about everything
That we've ever, ever been
Our past struggles will seem irrelevant
(dialogue)
There's a conversation happening, but it's not part of the lyrics
It's a terrible day
Today is an unpleasant day
Now don't be that way
Please don't react negatively
It's a terrible day for a wedding
Today is an unfortunate day to have a wedding
It's a sad, sad state of affairs we're in
We're currently dealing with a very unfortunate situation
That has led to this ominous wedding
That's why this wedding seems like a bad omen
How could our family have come to this?
How did our family get into this situation?
To marry off our daughter to the nouveau riche
One of our daughters will be married to newly wealthy people
They're so common
They're not well-educated or sophisticated enough for us
So coarse
Their behavior and mannerisms are considered vulgar
Oh it couldn't be worse
This is about as bad as it gets
Couldn't be worse? I'm afraid I disagree
Actually it could be worse, and that's what worries me
They could be land-rich, bankrupt aristocracy
They could be from a noble family that's lost their assets
Without a penny to their name
They have no money or resources
Just like you, and me
They're just as broke as we are
Oh dear
This is truly upsetting
According to plan
All the arrangements and proceedings must happen as scheduled
Our daughter will wed
Our daughter will get married
Our family led
Our family will be represented as important
From the depths of deepest poverty
Our family has suffered financial hardships for a while
To the noble realm
This wedding will help elevate our social status to a more respected level
Of our ancestry
We'll be retaining the dignity of our family's background
And who'd have guessed in a million years
This outcome is truly unpredictable
That our daughter with a face
Our daughter who was once seen as unattractive
Of an otter in disgrace
Viewed as an unappealing animal and unworthy
Would provide our ticket to a rightful place
Will help our family to receive the proper respect and status we deserve
(dialogue)
This is more dialogue between two characters
Marriage is a partnership
A marriage is like an agreement in which both parties should be happy
A little tit for tat
Sometimes a bit of back-and-forth is necessary
You'd think a lifetime watching us
After paying attention to us for so long
Might have taught her that
Our daughter would have learned something from us
Everything must be perfect
Every detail needs to be exact and without flaws
Everything must be perfect
Everything needs to be perfect, absolutely nothing can go wrong
Everything must be perfect perfect
This cannot be stressed enough, everything must be perfect in every way
That's why everything
That's the reason that everything
Every last little thing
All the tiniest details
Every single tiny microscopic little thing must go
Every single thing needs to happen perfectly down to the smallest detail
According to plan
Everything must happen according to what we've planned out
Contributed by Mackenzie G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.