While attending a Sixth Form College in Luton, Arnold became friends with director Danny Cannon. Cannon initially created short films for which Arnold was asked to write the music. The two made their respective major film debuts with The Young Americans. "Play Dead", a song from the film with singer Björk, charted #12 in the UK. The following year he scored Stargate and Last of the Dogmen, with excerpts from the former ranking third in the most commonly used soundtrack cues for film trailers.
Arnold then composed music for Stargate director Roland Emmerich's next two movies, Independence Day and Godzilla, as well as four movies for director John Singleton. In addition, he has scored various comedies, dramas, and nineteenth-century period pieces, as well as providing music for several British television shows including the 2000 remake of Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) and Little Britain. During film production, his compositions are conducted by Nicholas Dodd. In 2010, he composed the music for Come Fly With Me, a British television series from the producers of Little Britain.
He is a member of the British Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors (BASCA). On Thursday 29 November 2012, Arnold received an honorary degree from University of West London. Now a university honorary, he will work closely with the University in particular London College of Music, a faculty within the institute. In 2014, he appeared as himself in The Life of Rock with Brian Pern.
He has collaborated with such musical acts as Cast, Kaiser Chiefs, Massive Attack, and Pulp, and solo artists Natasha Bedingfield, Melanie C, Björk, Chris Cornell, Shirley Manson, Mark Morriss, Nina Persson and in 2009 produced Shirley Bassey's album The Performance.
In 2001, he provided a new arrangement of Ron Grainer's Doctor Who theme music for the Eighth Doctor audio dramas from Big Finish Productions. His version was used as the Eighth Doctor theme starting with 2001's Storm Warning until 2008, when it was replaced with a new version arranged by Nicholas Briggs starting with Dead London. Arnold's theme returned to the Eighth Doctor releases with the 2012 box set, Dark Eyes.
Arnold is the second cousin of Irish singer-songwriter Damien Rice, and is an ambassador for aid agency CARE International in the UK. He has made minor appearances in two different episodes of Little Britain as separate characters.
In February 2011, it was announced that he was appointed Musical Director for the 2012 Olympic Games and the 2012 Paralympic Games in London.
In May 2011, he was part of the United Kingdom's jury for the Eurovision Song Contest 2011.
Arnold took part in a tribute to John Barry on 20 June 2011 at the Royal Albert Hall in London, singing a song that was composed by Barry and playing the guitar part of the James Bond theme.
In 2014, Arnold teamed up with Richard Thomas, to write the music and lyrics for the new West End musical Made in Dagenham.
In October 2015 he collaborated with Lethal Bizzle and Sinead Harnett to create a song combining orchestral, grime and soul elements. The song, 'Come This Far', was performed live at a special event at One Mayfair, as part of Bulmers Cider's LiveColourful LIVE promotion, and made available as a free download from Bulmers' website. He and Sherlock co-composer Michael Price also composed the music for ITV's Jekyll and Hyde television series which premiered in October 2015.
In September 2016 the Royal Albert Hall hosted an orchestral performance of Independence Day with the score performed live to picture, David Arnold gave a pre-show talk.
Imagine
David Arnold Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
And no religion too
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope some day you'll join us
And the world will be as one
David Arnold's song Imagine is a cover of John Lennon's classic hit from 1971. The song is a utopian vision of a world without religion, countries, possessions, and social hierarchies that divide people. The song opens with a provocation to imagine a world without heaven, hell, or the afterlife, where people only live for the present moment. The chorus of the song envisions a world of peace and unity, where people of all races, nationalities, and creeds come together as one human family.
The second verse of the song takes the vision of a unified and peaceful world further by imagining a world without borders and wars, where people do not kill or die for their nation or beliefs. The song expresses a disillusionment with the destructive powers of nationalism and religious fanaticism, which have caused countless conflicts and sufferings throughout human history. The chorus repeats the call to action to join the dreamers who envision a better world and hope for a day when all people can live in harmony with each other.
The final verse of the song challenges the culture of materialism and individualism, which defines contemporary society. The song suggests that a world without possessions and greed is not only possible but desirable. The song's final chorus underscores the message of hope and invites the listener to become a part of a movement towards a world without boundaries and conflicts. Ultimately, Imagine offers a compelling vision of a world where people live in peace, freedom, and unity, and reminds us of our shared humanity and interconnectedness.
Line by Line Meaning
Imagine there's no heaven
Visualize a world in which there's no concept of heaven
It's easy if you try
It's possible to picture this if you give it some thought
No hell below us
There's no place of eternal punishment under our feet
Above us only sky
The only thing above us is the sky
Imagine all the people living for today
Picture everyone living in the moment
Imagine there's no countries
Envision a world without borders separating people
It isn't hard to do
It's not a difficult thing to imagine
Nothing to kill or die for
There is no cause worth killing or dying for
And no religion too
Also, no religious beliefs causing conflict
Imagine all the people living life in peace, you
Imagine everyone living with inner harmony
You may say I'm a dreamer
People may accuse me of being impractical
But I'm not the only one
Others also have this vision
I hope some day you'll join us
I hope you'll also come to believe this
And the world will be as one
And that the world will be united
Imagine no possessions
Picture a reality where material ownership isn't a concept
I wonder if you can
I'm curious if you're capable of imagining this
No need for greed or hunger
No one has to be overly desirous or hungry
A brotherhood of man
All humanity being like family to each other
Imagine all the people sharing all the world, you
Visualize everyone sharing every part of the world
You may say I'm a dreamer
Again, people may think I'm unrealistic
But I'm not the only one
I'm not the singular person to have this hope
I hope some day you'll join us
I anticipate you'll join this vision one day
And the world will be as one
And then the world will be completely unified
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: JOHN LENNON, PAUL MCCARTNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind