Mancini was born Enrico Nicola Mancini in the Little Italy neighborhood of Cleveland, Ohio, and grew up near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in the steel town of West Aliquippa, Pennsylvania. His parents emigrated from the Abruzzo region of Italy. Mancini's father, Quinto, was a steelworker, who made his only child begin flute lessons at the age of eight. When Mancini was 12 years old, he began piano lessons. Quinto and Henry played flute together in the Aliquippa Italian immigrant band, "Sons of Italy". After high school, Mancini attended the renowned Juilliard School of Music in New York. In 1943, after roughly one year at Juilliard, his studies were interrupted when he was drafted into the army. In 1945, he participated in the liberation of a South German concentration camp.
Mancini recorded over 90 albums, in styles ranging from big band to classical to pop. Eight of these albums were certified gold by The Recording Industry Association of America. He had a 20 year contract with RCA Records, resulting in 60 commercial record albums that made him a household name composer of easy listening music.
Mancini's range also extended to orchestral and ethnic scores (Lifeforce, The Great Mouse Detective, Sunflower, "Tom and Jerry: The Movie", Molly Maguires, The Hawaiians), and darker themes ("Experiment In Terror," "The White Dawn," "Wait Until Dark," "The Night Visitor").
Mancini was also a concert performer, conducting over fifty engagements per year, resulting in over 600 symphony performances during his lifetime. Among the symphony orchestras he conducted are the London Symphony Orchestra, the Israel Philharmonic, the Boston Pops, the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. He appeared in 1966, 1980 and 1984 in command performances for the British Royal Family. He also toured several times with Johnny Mathis and with Andy Williams, who had sung many of Mancini's songs.[citation needed]
Mancini had experience with acting and voice roles. In 1994 he made a one-off cameo appearance in the first season of the sitcom series Frasier, as a call-in patient to Dr. Frasier Crane's radio show. Mancini voiced the character Al, who speaks with a melancholy drawl and hates the sound of his own voice, in the episode "Guess Who's Coming to Breakfast?" Mancini also had an uncredited performance as a pianist in the 1967 movie Gunn, the movie version of the series Peter Gunn, the score of which was originally composed by Mancini himself.
Mancini was nominated for an unprecedented 72 Grammys, winning 20 Additionally he was nominated for 18 Academy Awards, winning four. He also won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for two Emmys.
Mancini won a total of four Oscars for his music in the course of his career.
Mancini died at the age of 70 in Beverly Hills/Los Angeles, California of pancreatic cancer. He was working at the time on the Broadway stage version of Victor/Victoria. At the time of his death, Mancini was married to singer Virginia "Ginny" O´Connor, with whom he had three children. Ginny Mancini went on to found the Society of Singers a non profit organization which benefits the health and welfare of professional singers worldwide. Additionally the Society awards scholarships to students pursuing an education in the vocal arts and holds the annual Ella Awards.
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers(ASCAP) Foundation "Henry Mancini Music Scholarship" has been awarded annually since 2001.
The Shadow of Your Mind
Henry Mancini Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
When you have gone
Will color all my dreams
And light the dawn
Look into my eyes my love and see
All the lovely things you are to me
It was far, too high
A teardrop kissed your lips
And so did I
Now when I remember spring
All the joys that love can bring
I will be remembering
The shadow of your smile
The lyrics of The Shadow of Your Mind evoke a sense of longing and nostalgia that accompanies the loss of love. The first stanza talks about how the memory of the person's smile will color all the dreams of the singer when they're gone. The second stanza talks about how the person was their wistful little star, which was far too high. They both shared a teardrop that also kisses their lips, and now when the singer remembers spring, they'll remember the shadow of the person's smile and all the joys that love can bring.
Looking into the eyes of someone you love is a powerful and intimate thing, and the singer implores their lover to do the same. By seeing "all the lovely things you are to me," the person they love can fully understand their depth of feeling. The reference to a wistful little star that was far too high hints at unrequited love and how some things are simply out of reach. The shared teardrop communicates an understanding and shared pain between the two people. The memory of spring and the joys of love that accompany it is bittersweet because it's now tinged with the pain of the loss of love.
Line by Line Meaning
The shadow of your smile
Your smiling face will forever be etched in my mind, leaving an indelible mark on my memories.
When you have gone
After the time has elapsed, and you have left my life, I will still remember you.
Will color all my dreams
The memory of you will envelop my dreams, leaving me with just thoughts and images of you.
And light the dawn
Your memory will be like a light that brightens up my every morning and with it, every new day.
Look into my eyes my love and see
I want you to look into my eyes to understand how much I love and cherish you.
All the lovely things you are to me
I see so much beauty in you, and you mean everything to me.
Our wistful little star
Our love is fragile, like a small star in the sky, but it shines brightly and fills me with hope and happiness.
It was far, too high
Our love was once out of reach and seemed impossible, but we persevered and made it work.
A teardrop kissed your lips
I saw you crying, and I kissed your lips to show you that I care and love you.
And so did I
I too cried with you because I understood the pain and sorrow you were feeling.
Now when I remember spring
Whenever I recall the joys of spring, I will think of you and the happiness you brought into my life.
All the joys that love can bring
Love has brought me immense happiness and joy, and it is all because of you.
I will be remembering
Your memory will always stay with me, and I will remember you forever.
The shadow of your smile
The memory of your smile will always stay with me, and it will keep me happy even in your absence.
Lyrics © Wixen Music Publishing, TuneCore Inc., BMG Rights Management, Royalty Network, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: Johnny Mandel, Paul Webster
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind