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.
Introduction
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Here she comes, full blast and top down
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue
Model citizen zero discipline
Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'l lose her in the turn
I'll get her
Panama, Panama
Panama, Panama
Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine
Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue
Got an on-ramp comin' through my bedroom
Don't you know she's coming home with me?
You'll lose her in the turn
I'll get her
Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it
Ah, you reach down, between my legs
Ease the seat back
She's blinding, I'm flying
Right behind the rear-view mirror now
Got the feeling, power steering
Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now
The song Introduction by Danny Elfman is a fast-paced, high-energy track that features lyrics about a man who is hot on the heels of a woman driving a flashy car. The lyrics are filled with car-related metaphors and imagery, such as the "hot shoe" and "on-ramp" that the man mentions. The chorus, which consists of the repeated word "Panama," adds to the song's frenetic energy and gives it a sense of urgency.
The lyrics suggest that the woman driving the car is a "model citizen" with "zero discipline," and that the man is determined to win her over from whoever she is currently with. He asserts that he will "get her" and warns his rival that he will "lose her in the turn." The sexual undertones of the song are made explicit in the final verse, where the man asks his passenger to "ease the seat back" and describes the sensation of driving behind the "rear-view mirror."
Overall, Introduction is a high-octane song that captures the thrill of the chase and the rush of the open road. The driving beat and catchy chorus make it a great choice for a workout playlist or a road trip soundtrack.
Line by Line Meaning
Jump back, what's that sound
Startled and curious about a particular sound
Here she comes, full blast and top down
A woman arriving in a high-speed car with an open top
Hot shoe, burnin' down the avenue
Driving recklessly fast and aggressively
Model citizen zero discipline
A person who doesn't follow rules and is a bad influence on others
Don't you know she's coming home with me?
Boastful statement about a woman being won over
You'll lose her in the turn
Confident assertion that only the singer can keep the woman interested
I'll get her
Further claim of victory in the pursuit of the woman
Panama, Panama
Repeating the name of an exotic location
Ain't nothin' like it, her shiny machine
Praising the woman's car and its immaculate condition
Got the feel for the wheel, keep the moving parts clean
Reveling in the sensation of driving and meticulous car maintenance
Got an on-ramp comin' through my bedroom
Intense fantasy of driving fast and recklessly even in one's own living space
Yeah, we're runnin' a little bit hot tonight
Acknowledgment of a heightened state of arousal and excitement
I can barely see the road from the heat comin' off of it
The passionate intensity of the moment obscures clear sight or rational judgment
Ah, you reach down, between my legs
Suggestion of sexual desire and/or arousal
Ease the seat back
Invitation to indulge in a physical and/or sexual activity
She's blinding, I'm flying
Metaphorical language to describe the excitement and intensity of the moment
Right behind the rear-view mirror now
Close proximity to another car or person
Got the feeling, power steering
Confident assertion of control and strength
Pistons popping, ain't no stopping now
Metaphorical language to describe a state of unstoppable momentum and power
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALEX VAN HALEN, EDWARD VAN HALEN, DAVID ROTH
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind