He studied music, art, and photography, but left school to pursue music as his life’s work. Rona became an in-demand studio musician, arranger, sound designer, synthesist, and music programmer working in Los Angeles and New York. Among his projects, he recorded and performed as a member of Jon Hassell’s highly regarded group, co-composing and producing the acclaimed “City-Works Of Fiction” record for Opal//Warp Records, and touring and performing with legendary producer Brian Eno.
After working with legendary record producers such as Maurice White, David Foster, Albhy Galuten, Malcolm Cecil and dozens of others, he focused his efforts on film music, most notably collaborating with Philip Glass, Mark Isham, Lisa Gerrard, Basil Poledouris, and longstanding musical relationships with composers Hans Zimmer and Cliff Martinez. Rona collaborated on dozens of films before landing his first solo composing project, scoring the groundbreaking television series “Homicide: Life On The Street” for director Barry Levinson, which launched his successful musical career. Rona’s music has been described as a unique and savvy use of electronics with orchestral and world musicians, taking inspiration from minimalism, EDM, 20th Century orchestral and pop music and blending them into a personal and recognizable style.
Rona has scored dozens of other film and television projects with legendary filmmakers including Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Wong Kar-wai, Robert Altman, Steven Soderbergh, Mark Pellington, Stephen Hopkins, Jonathan Demme, Frank Darabont, and many others.
He has toured with Lisa Gerrard (solo) and Dead Can Dance, orchestrating and conducting a symphony orchestra and adding his own music to the concerts. He composed music for the 2008 Beijing Olympic games, including live symphonic performances throughout Asia.
As a committed and passionate protector of animal rights and global ecology, Jeff has given time to score several landmark documentary films, most notably collaborating with Canadian filmmaker and activist Rob Stewart, whose film “Sharkwater” lead to the near global ban on shark finning.
Jeff has written music for multiple AAA video games including the epic “God of War 3”, “Far Cry 4”, “Marvel vs Capcom Infinite”, “Transformers”, “Resident Evil 2”, and the highly anticipated “Devil May Cry 5”, set for release March 8, 2019.
Rona’s music appears in numerous Oscar, Peabody, BAFTA and Emmy award-winning projects, as well as countless film festival honors around the world. He is a three-time recipient of the ASCAP Film and Television Music Award and has authored several successful books on music.
He has released several soundtrack albums. His first solo album, “PROJECTOR” was released in 2017 to excellent reviews and reception.
Prior to becoming an established composer, he was closely involved in a number of creative & technical aspects of electronic music. Jeff was a key figure in the development of musical software and new instrument design, and was a leader in making MIDI a groundbreaking world-wide phenomenon. He was a guest speaker on technology and creativity at the first TED Conference. Jeff chronicled his experiences in the film music world in his popular book The Reel World. He is an artist-in-residence at the Aspen Music Festival, and often speaks on film music.
Anthem of the Dead
Jeff Rona Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Θανάτος ήλιος
Θανάτος όλους στρος
τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος
τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος
τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος
τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος
Ηαδες
The lyrics of Jeff Rona's song "Anthem of the Dead" are quite cryptic, but they seem to be related to death and the afterlife. The title itself implies that the song is somehow connected to those who have passed away. The repeated phrases "Ηαδες" and "Θανάτος ήλιος Θανάτος όλους στρος" seem to suggest a connection between death and the sun. The phrase "τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος" is unclear, but it could refer to either a specific place or the journey to the afterlife. The repetition of this phrase reinforces the idea that the song is about a journey, possibly to the afterlife.
The overall tone of the song is mournful and eerie, with haunting synthesizer chords and distorted vocals adding to the sense of otherworldliness. It is important to note that the words themselves may not have a direct translation, as they may be in another language or simply made up. However, the overall effect is one of loss and longing, with a sense of both despair and hope.
Line by Line Meaning
Ηαδες
This may be a stylized way of saying 'Hades,' which in Greek mythology is the underworld or land of the dead.
Θανάτος ήλιος
The sun represents life, but death has eclipsed it in this instance.
Θανάτος όλους στρος
Death has taken everyone in its grip.
τη πεθι σου τα κολοσσεχ ρόθος
The ancient ruins and relics of your past will fall into decay as you succumb to death's grip.
Ηαδες
This phrase is repeated and serves as a haunting refrain throughout the song.
Writer(s): cris velasco, gerard marino, jeff rona, mike reagan, ron fish
Contributed by Ian F. Suggest a correction in the comments below.