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.
To Die For
Danny Elfman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
I had a will, but didn't know what it could do
You were abandoned,
And still you're handing out what you don't wanna to lose
You make me drop things
Like all the plans I had for a life without you
Someone to die for
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone, like you
I'm drunk when sober
The room is spinning
You are what I hold on to
You're taking over
I find that giving in is the best I can do
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone like you
Someone to die for
Someone to die for
Someone to die
Someone
Someone
Someone
Someone to die for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to die for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone
Someone like you
In this song, Danny Elfman talks about how he was once content with his life and had a sense of purpose or will, but everything changed when he met someone he truly cares for. This person was abandoned by someone else, but they still offer love and affection that they fear they might lose if they don't keep giving. Danny goes on to say that this person makes him drop everything he was planning to do without them because he cannot imagine a life without this person. He admits that he is often lost and confused when the person is not around, and they are the only thing that keeps him grounded. He is willing to sacrifice everything he has for this person, making them his reason to live and his someone to die for.
The chorus emphasizes the importance of this person in Danny's life, as he describes them as "Someone to die for." He asserts that this person is his anchor, and he falls into them when the world becomes dark and tough. This person tears a hole in his life, breaking through the endless night he is trapped in. Danny recognizes that they have become the center of his universe and that he is ready to die for them. The song is an expression of the immense love and gratitude he has for this person who came into his life and changed everything for the better.
Line by Line Meaning
Before you landed
Before you came into my life
I had a will, but didn't know what it could do
I had dreams and aspirations, but didn't realize their potential
You were abandoned
You were left alone and neglected
And still you're handing out what you don't wanna to lose
You're still sharing love and affection despite past hurt and fear of loss
You make me drop things
You disrupt my plans and priorities
Like all the plans I had for a life without you
Like the goals I had before I met you
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to turn to when life gets tough
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone to bring light into a dark situation
Someone, like you
Someone special like you
I'm drunk when sober
I feel intoxicated by love even when sober
The room is spinning
My head is spinning from the intensity of my emotions
You are what I hold on to
You're my anchor and stability
You're taking over
You're becoming the center of my life
I find that giving in is the best I can do
I surrender to the pull of my emotions
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to turn to when life gets tough
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone to bring light into a dark situation
Someone like you
Someone special like you
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to die
Someone worth dying for
Someone
Someone important to me
Someone
Someone special
Someone
Someone I cherish
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to fall into when the world goes dark
Someone to turn to when life gets tough
Someone to die for
Someone worth sacrificing everything for
Someone to tear a hole in this endless night
Someone to bring light into a dark situation
Someone
Someone special
Someone like you
Someone special like you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: ALAIN JOHANNES, CHRIS CORNELL, NATASHA SHNEIDER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
BoingoTarash90s
Danny's familiar majestic sounds being interrupted by a fierce assault of metal... Man, this unique piece of music is just amazing.
Dennis Fucking Wilson
This Movie felt like a classic
smw
great movie, i love it! :) its about getting what you want, at any cost, and succeeding at it, but with a tragic twist in the end...
Highland804
Cool and creepy.
rgf1byobeitiki
great film
Mr Bungle
Brooks wackerman was the drummer here just found out lol
Nuclear Cat Baby
Danny Elfman: “I want to write music for grownup movies”
Writes music that sounds just like what he writes for Tim Burton movies
Robsta
Sound a bit like beetlejuice at parts
Noel Antoine
reflects the schizophrenic nature of the film
94ejack
It was okay.