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".
Bye Bye Blackbird
Elliot Goldenthal Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
Bye, bye, blackbird
Where somebody waits for me
Sugar's sweet, so is she
Bye, bye, blackbird
No one here can love or understand me
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Blackbird, bye, bye
The song Bye Bye Blackbird by Elliot Goldenthal conveys a sense of wanderlust and searching for acceptance. The singer feels misunderstood and unloved by those around them, and as a result they choose to leave and start anew. The repetition of the phrase "No one here can love or understand me" emphasizes the singer's feelings of isolation and the need to break free from their current situation. The reference to "hard luck stories" suggests that the singer has been through some difficult times and is seeking a fresh start.
The singer decides to pack up their "cares and woe" and leave, represented by the metaphor of "winging low". The line "Where somebody waits for me / Sugar's sweet, so is she" indicates that the singer is looking for someone who understands and accepts them, someone who is sweet and kind. The repetition of "Bye, bye, blackbird" and the final line "Blackbird, bye, bye" suggests the finality of this decision to leave and start anew, perhaps with the hope of finding a better life elsewhere.
Overall, Bye Bye Blackbird is a song about leaving the past behind and searching for acceptance and understanding in a new place.
Line by Line Meaning
No one here can love or understand me
I feel unloved and misunderstood by everyone around me.
Oh, what hard luck stories they all hand me
People always tell me their own tough tales.
Pack up all my cares and woe, here I go, winging low
I'm leaving with all my problems and worries, feeling down.
Bye, bye, blackbird
Goodbye, my woes.
Where somebody waits for me
I have hope that I'll find a person who loves and understands me one day.
Sugar's sweet, so is she
That person will be as attractive and kind as sugar.
No one here can love or understand me
Again, I feel unloved and misunderstood by my current surroundings.
Oh what hard luck stories they all hand me
People keep sharing their own sad tales with me.
Make my bed and light the light, I'll arrive late tonight
Get ready for me, I'll come home very late tonight.
Blackbird, bye, bye
Goodbye, my woes.
Bye, bye, blackbird
Farewell, my troubles.
Where somebody waits for me
Once again, I hold onto hope for finding true love.
Sugar's sweet, so is she
I'm certain that person will be kind, lovely and sweet.
Bye, bye, blackbird
Goodbye to my struggles.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Mort Dixon, Ray Henderson
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind