In addition, Horner has scored over 100 films, frequently collaborating with acclaimed directors such as James Cameron and Ron Howard. Other scores he worked on include those of Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Cocoon, Commando, Aliens, Willow, Field of Dreams, Glory, The Rocketeer, Legends of the Fall, Apollo 13, Braveheart, Casper, The Mask of Zorro, Mighty Joe Young, The Perfect Storm, A Beautiful Mind, Enemy at the Gates, Troy, Avatar, *batteries not included, and more recently, The Amazing Spider-Man.
Horner has won two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, three Satellite Awards, three Saturn Awards, and has been nominated for three British Academy Film Awards. His body of work is also notable for including the scores to the two highest-grossing films of all time: Titanic (1997) and Avatar (2009), both of which were directed by James Cameron. Horner was greatly influenced by Dimitri Shostakovich.
Born James Roy Horner in Los Angeles, California, Horner learned to play the piano at the age of five. His early years were spent in London, where he attended the Royal College of Music. He subsequently attended Verde Valley High School in Sedona, Arizona. He received his bachelor's degree in music from the University of Southern California, and eventually earned a master's and started working on his doctorate at the University of California, Los Angeles where he studied with Paul Chihara, among others. After several scoring assignments with the American Film Institute in the 1970s, he finished his teaching of music theory at UCLA and turned to film scoring.
Horner's first score for a feature film was Up from the Depths (19792015, a joint effort with composer Russell O'Malley. Spending the early parts of his career scoring low-budget horror and science fiction films, he eventually formed a working relationship with director and producer Roger Corman, and would go on to compose the score for Corman's Battle Beyond the Stars; parts of this score would be re-used in many Corman productions to come.
His first major film score was The Lady in Red (1979), garnering attention from Hollywood. With the score for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, established Horner as a mainstream composer. Throughout the 1980s, Horner composed scores for high-profile films such as Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Cocoon and Aliens, the latter garnering Horner's first nomination for an Academy Award; Horner has been nominated nine times since.
Throughout the late 80s and early 90s, Horner composed scores for children's films (particularly those produced by Amblin Entertainment), amongst which were An American Tail (1986), for which he was nominated for a Grammy Award (the song "Somewhere Out There" won the Grammy for Best Original Song) as well as an Academy Award; The Land Before Time (1988), and We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story (1993).
1995 saw Horner produce no fewer than six scores, including his commercially successful and critically-acclaimed works for Braveheart and Apollo 13, both of which earned him Academy Award nominations. Horner's greatest financial and critical success would come in 1997, with the score to the motion picture, Titanic, which was greatly influenced by the music of Clannad. The album became the best-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack in history, selling over 27 million copies worldwide. The score would later win Academy Awards for Best Original Dramatic Score and Best Original Song ("My Heart Will Go On", performed by Celine Dion), as well as Golden Globe Awards for the same two categories.
In the 2000s, Horner received Academy Award nominations for A Beautiful Mind (2001), and House of Sand and Fog (2003). In 2009, Horner was nominated for every major award for the score of Avatar, but ultimately, all were lost to Michael Giacchino's Up, Horner has cited the composition for said score as the single most difficult artistic challenge of his career, requiring two years of devotion to this sole project. Avatar has since surpassed Titanic, also a James Cameron-Horner collaboration, as the highest-grossing film of all time.
Subsequent to the worldwide success gained from Titanic, Horner has preferred to be involved with smaller projects which has enabled him to develop a quieter, more minimal style of music, examples of which can be heard in independent films such as Iris, The Chumscrubber, Apocalypto, The Life Before Her Eyes, and the upcoming 2011 film The Song of Names.
While one of the most critically and commercially successful film composers in the world, Horner has been criticized for transposing hooks, motifs, or passages from his own works as well as that of others. This remains a point of debate between supporters and detractors of Horner's work.
Horner died while piloting his Tucano turboprop aircraft on 22.June.2015, at the age of 61.
I See You
James Horner Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Ll look just like St. Nick ho ho ho
You're a mean one, Mr Grinch
You really are a heel
You're as cuddly as a cactus
And as charming as an eel
Mr. Grinch!
Greasy black peel!
Just face the music you're a monster, Mr. Grinch, yes your are
Your heart's an empty hole
Your brain is full of spiders
You've got garlic in your soul
Mr. Grinch!
I wouldn't touch you with a
Thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
You know if you ask me who's who's, with who they are
No one's denying
You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch!
You have termites in your smile
You have all the tender sweetness
Of a seasick crocodile
Mr. Grinch!
Given the choice between you, I'd take the
Seasick crocodile!
The first two lines of these lyrics come from a different song called "Santa Claus Is Coming to Town". The singer is saying that they have a coat and hat that makes them look like Santa Claus. This draws a contrast with the next set of lyrics, which are from the song "You're A Mean One, Mr. Grinch". In this song, the singer is addressing the character of the Grinch, who is known for being a mean and unpleasant character. The lyrics are describing the Grinch's nasty qualities, calling him "a heel", "cuddly as a cactus", and "charming as an eel". The singer says that the Grinch's heart is empty and his brain is full of spiders, and that he has "garlic in his soul". This all adds up to the singer saying they wouldn't touch the Grinch with a 39-and-a-half foot pole.
The inclusion of the Santa Claus lyrics at the beginning of this passage suggests that the singer is trying to create a holiday mood, but the lyrics take a sharp turn to talk about the Grinch. This creates an interesting juxtaposition between the joyful holiday spirit and the Grinch's miserable persona, representing the conflict between Christmas cheer and the forces that seek to dampen it. The lyrics also reflect the tongue-in-cheek, humorous tone of the Dr. Seuss book and subsequent film that introduced the character of the Grinch.
Line by Line Meaning
With this coat and this hat, I'll look just like St. Nick ho ho ho
I am wearing this costume to transform into Santa Claus
You're a mean one, Mr. Grinch
You are an unkind and unpleasant person, Mr. Grinch
You really are a heel
You are a despicable and contemptible person
You're as cuddly as a cactus
You are not at all lovable or affectionate, just like a prickly cactus
And as charming as an eel
You are not charming, rather deceitful and slippery, just like an eel
Mr. Grinch!
Addressing the person being referred to as Mr. Grinch
You're a bad banana oh with a Greasy black peel!
You have a bad reputation and character, just like a bad banana with a greasy black peel
Just face the music you're a monster, Mr. Grinch, yes your are
Accept the fact that you are a monster, Mr. Grinch, indeed you are
Your heart's an empty hole
You have no love or kindness in your heart
Your brain is full of spiders
Your thoughts and ideas are unappealing and creepy, just like spiders
You've got garlic in your soul
Your soul is contaminated with evil, just like garlic smells bad
Mr. Grinch!
Addressing the person being referred to as Mr. Grinch
I wouldn't touch you with a Thirty-nine-and-a-half foot pole!
I would keep a safe distance from you, as you are someone I dislike greatly
You know if you ask me who's who's, with who they are
You have knowledge about people and their relationships
No one's denying
There is no dispute or argument about something
You're a vile one, Mr. Grinch!
You are a loathsome and unpleasant person, Mr. Grinch
You have termites in your smile
Your smile is insincere and hides something unpleasant, just like termites hiding in wood
You have all the tender sweetness Of a seasick crocodile
You have none of the affectionate or sweet qualities, and are rather like a seasick crocodile
Mr. Grinch!
Addressing the person being referred to as Mr. Grinch
Given the choice between you, I'd take the Seasick crocodile!
If I had to choose between you and a seasick crocodile, I would choose the crocodile, as even that would be better than you
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC
Written by: Albert Hague, Theodor S. Geisel
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@angelad.9208
The wonderful energy that James Horner's songs convey is unparalleled.
@hejalll
Omg try when you're a bit tired make it dark and close you'r eyes lay down and enjoy this song. That makes this to .... somethin... so beautiful. Makes u feel fantastic. Makes u ignore all the issues. Makes u a perfect person for 4.21 minutes.
@unconquerablepresence4360
Sebastian Thorsen Love
@DarthCipient
This is an awesome theme song for the movie and Leona Lewis does a great job on it. It really does a sort of "otherworldlyness" to it. It reminds me of the song "My Sanctuary" from Kingdom Hearts.
@origamipein18
I can't believe it's been over a decade since the film came out!
@jwricky
this song is quite possibly the most under rated song ever, it just never got the recognition it desrves
@hadwayx
It's awesome song. I really love it.
@djjacm
R.I.P. James Horner 22/06/2015
@sadman9991
I see you, James Horner
@davidfiore4677
Eywa. Please watch over James Horner. Just like God is.