Goldenthal was born on May 2, 1954, the youngest son of a Jewish housepainter father and a Catholic seamstress mother in Brooklyn, New York City, where he was influenced from an early age by music from all cultures and genres. Both pairs of Goldenthal's grandparents emigrated to the United States from Bucharest and Iași, Romania. Goldenthal lived in a multi-cultural part of town, and this is reflected in his works. He attended John Dewey High School in Brooklyn where, at the age of 14, he had his very first ballet Variations on Early Glimpses performed; he continued to display his eclectic musical range, performing with rock bands in the seventies. He then studied music full-time at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music, where he studied with composer John Corigliano (whom he greatly admired), to earn his Bachelor of Music degree (1977) and Master of Music degree (1979) in musical composition.
Goldenthal has written works for concert hall, theater, dance and film. His work includes music for films such as Alien 3, Michael Collins, Batman Forever, Heat and the Academy Award-winning score for Julie Taymor's Frida, a movie in which Goldenthal had a small acting part as a "Newsreel Reporter". Incidentally he also had a small part in the stage show Juan Darièn as a "Circus Barker / Streetsinger".
The Tony-Award-winning Juan Darién: A Carnival Mass (1988/'96) and The Green Bird (1999), based on a story by Carlo Gozzi, are a two of the composer's theatre works. In 2006, Goldenthal completed his original three-act opera with Taymor entitled Grendel an adaptation of the John Gardner novel of the same name which told the story of Beowulf from the monster Grendel's point of view. It had its world premiere in early June 2006 at the Los Angeles Opera, the role of Grendel performed by Eric Owens, with an audience that included John Williams and Emmy Rossum; the opus was added to the Los Angeles Opera's permanent repertoire and earned Goldenthal a nomination in April 2007 for the Pulitzer Prize for Music. In 2008 Goldenthal reunited with Michael Mann to score 1930s gangster movie Public Enemies and in 2009 he scored another Julie Taymor Shakespeare adaptation, The Tempest. He cites Japanese composer Tōru Takemitsu as an influence and someone he styles his own career on; Goldenthal has said that the lines between traditional concert music and orchestral film score have become more blurred which is the way he thinks it should be. He has also collaborated four times with Irish director Neil Jordan, including on his films Interview with the Vampire and In Dreams.
Elliot Goldenthal has been called the "thinking man's composer" by film-music collectors and a generally more cerebral choice for film makers and lovers of film music. He is known for his experimentation, nuances and willingness to try unconventional techniques. He has scored films in almost every genre from horror to action to Shakespeare adaptations. He has not yet scored comedy, but he has composed comedic motifs for several films such as Demolition Man and the Batman series. His eclectic output has gained him a great deal of respect in the music and film communities and with fans. He is widely appreciated for his musical abilities and distinctive style, although some find his work to be too experimental or inaccessible. His action music is brutal and atonal. Sometimes, in underscore, he uses very fast French horn passages with bending tones and whining. Goldenthal has said that he doesn't "hear" atonal and tonal, rather, "I either hear melody or I hear sonority".
Burn It Blue
Elliot Goldenthal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Burn it blue
Heart running on empty
So lost without you
But the night sky blooms with fire
And the burning bed floats higher
And she's free to fly
Woman so weary
Spread your broken wings
Fly free as the swallow sings
Come to the firework
See the dark lady smiles
She burns
And the night sky blooms with fire
And the burning bed floats higher
And she's free to fly
Burn this night
Black and blue
So cold in the morning
So cold without you
And the night sky blooms with fire
(Y la noche que se encendia)
And the burning bed floats higher
(Y la cama que lleva)
And she's free to fly
(A volar)
And all of the dark days
Painted in dark grey hues
They fade with the dream of you
Wrapped in red velvet
Dancing the night away
I burn
Midnight blue
Spread those wings
Fly free with the swallows
Fly
One with the wind
why él es flama que se lleva
Why es un pájaro a volar
Why es un pájaro a volar
En la noche que se encendió
(...)
Luces del cielo
And the night sky blooms with fire
(Y eres flama que se lleva)
And the burning bed floats higher
(Y eres un pajaro a volar)
And she´s free to fly
(Y eres un pajaro a volar)
Just a swallow in the sky
(Y eres la noche que se encendia)
...
Much brighter
(bla bla bla why la oscuridad)
Burn this house
Burn it blue
Heart running on empty
So lost without you
The song “Burn It Blue” by Elliot Goldenthal is a beautiful but sad song that reflects on the feelings of a woman who is lost without her loved one. The lyrics of the song talk about how the woman wants to burn down her house and everything in it, including herself. She is so brokenhearted and lost without her lover that she wants to destroy everything around her. However, she finds solace in the night sky that blooms with fire and the burning bed that floats higher. She is free to fly like a bird with broken wings.
The woman is encouraged to fly free like the swallow that sings in the sky. She is told to come to the firework and see the dark lady who smiles as she burns. The song is a metaphor for the pain of losing someone you love and how it can make you feel like you want to burn everything down. But in the end, the night sky blooms with fire and the woman is free to fly away from her pain.
Overall, “Burn It Blue” is a beautiful and evocative song that captures the emotions of a person who is lost and brokenhearted. The lyrics and melody work together to create a haunting and beautiful piece of music.
Line by Line Meaning
Burn this house
Destroy this home
Burn it blue
Set it alight until it turns blue
Heart running on empty
My heart is depleted, devoid of feelings
So lost without you
I am hopelessly lost without you
But the night sky blooms with fire
The dark sky illuminates with the light of the flames
And the burning bed floats higher
As the bed burns, it rises higher into the sky
And she's free to fly
The woman is liberated and able to soar
Woman so weary
Tired woman
Spread your broken wings
Open your injured wings
Fly free as the swallow sings
Fly away freely like the bird as it sings
Come to the firework
Attend the firework display
See the dark lady smiles
Observe the happy expression of the shadowy lady
She burns
She is blazing
Burn this night
Incinerate this evening
Black and blue
Marked with bruises
So cold in the morning
Extremely frigid in the early hours
So cold without you
Unbearably cold without you
And all of the dark days
All days of darkness
Painted in dark grey hues
Colored with dull, gloomy shades of gray
They fade with the dream of you
I forget the dark days when I dream of you
Wrapped in red velvet
Covered in red velvet
Dancing the night away
Dancing throughout the night
I burn
I am aflame
Midnight blue
Very dark blue
Spread those wings
Open your wings
Fly free with the swallows
Soar alongside the birds
One with the wind
In harmony with the wind
why él es flama que se lleva
He is the flame that carries away
Why es un pájaro a volar
He is a bird that flies
En la noche que se encendió
In the night that it turned on
(...)
Omitted content
Luces del cielo
Lights of the sky
And she´s free to fly
The woman is able to soar freely
Just a swallow in the sky
Simply a flying bird in the sky
(Y eres la noche que se encendia)
(And you are the night that lit up)
...
Omitted content
Much brighter
Much more brilliant
(bla bla bla why la oscuridad)
(Unknown content about darkness)
Burn this house
Destroy this home
Burn it blue
Set it alight until it turns blue
Heart running on empty
My heart is depleted, devoid of feelings
So lost without you
I am hopelessly lost without you
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: GOLDENTHAL, TAYMOR
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind