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.
Sally's Song
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That feels like tragedy's at hand
And though I'd like to stand by him
Can't shake this feeling that I have
The worst is just around the bend
And does he notice my feelings for him
And will he see how much he means to me
I think it's not to be
What will become of my dear friend
Where will his actions lead us then
Although I'd like to join the crowd
In their enthusiastic cloud
Try as I may, it doesn't last
And will we ever end up together
No, I think not, it's never to become
For I am not the one
Danny Elfman's "Sally's Song" is a melancholic and haunting ode to unrequited love. The song is performed from the perspective of Sally, a ragdoll character in the movie "The Nightmare Before Christmas." Sally has feelings for the singer, Jack Skellington, the King of Halloween Town, but she doubts that he will ever reciprocate them. She senses that something bad is going to happen soon, and she can't shake off her unease. The lyrics are suffused with a sense of tragedy and longing, and they reflect the themes of the movie, which is about the clash between tradition and innovation, conformity and individuality, and love and fear.
The first stanza of the song sets the mood and tone of the song. Sally admits that she senses something ominous in the air, and she fears that she and Jack won't have a happy ending. She wants to support him and be with him, but she can't ignore her inner voice of doubt. The second stanza reveals that Sally is aware of her feelings for Jack, and she wonders if he'll ever notice them. She's afraid that he might never realize how much he means to her, and that they'll never be together. The final stanza is the most poignant and heartbreaking. Sally admits that she'll never be the one for Jack, and that she'll have to accept that her love is unrequited. The song ends on a somber note, as Sally resigns herself to her fate and leaves the audience with a lingering sense of sadness.
Line by Line Meaning
I sense there's something in the wind
I have a premonition that something tragic is looming.
That feels like tragedy's at hand
My intuition tells me that some tragedy is around the corner.
And though I'd like to stand by him
I would love to support him.
Can't shake this feeling that I have
But I cannot clear this strong sense of foreboding that I have.
The worst is just around the bend
I believe that the worst is yet to come.
And does he notice my feelings for him
Does he realize my affection towards him?
And will he see how much he means to me
Will he understand the depth of my feelings for him?
I think it's not to be
But unfortunately, I don't think we will end up together.
What will become of my dear friend
I am concerned about the fate of my beloved friend.
Where will his actions lead us then
I am curious to know where his actions will take us.
Although I'd like to join the crowd
While I wish to be a part of the enthusiastic crowd.
In their enthusiastic cloud
Enveloped in their euphoria.
Try as I may, it doesn't last
But despite my efforts, I cannot maintain that happiness.
And will we ever end up together
I still wonder if we will ever be in a relationship.
No, I think not, it's never to become
Unfortunately, I do not think it is meant to be.
For I am not the one
Because I am not the one he seeks.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Written by: Sean Brennan
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind