He collaborated with some of film history's most accomplished directors, including Robert Wise, Howard Hawks, Otto Preminger, Joe Dante, Richard Donner, Roman Polanski, Ridley Scott, Michael Winner, Steven Spielberg, Paul Verhoeven, and Franklin J. Schaffner. His work for Donner and Scott also involved a rejected score for Timeline and a controversially edited score for Alien, where music by Howard Hanson replaced Goldsmith's end titles and Goldsmith's own work on Freud: The Secret Passion was used without his approval in several scenes.
Goldsmith was nominated for six Grammy Awards, five Primetime Emmy Awards, nine Golden Globe Awards, four British Academy Film Awards, and eighteen Academy Awards (winning in 1976 for The Omen). He composed the Paramount Pictures Fanfare used from 1976 through 2011. The American Film Institute respectively ranked Goldsmith's scores for Chinatown (1974) and Planet of the Apes (1968) No. 9 and No. 18 on their list of the 25 greatest film scores. He is one of only five composers to have more than one score featured in the list, including Elmer Bernstein, Bernard Herrmann, Max Steiner, and John Williams.
Goldsmith was born February 10, 1929 in Los Angeles, California. His family was Romanian-Jewish. His parents were Tessa (née Rappaport), a school teacher, and Morris Goldsmith, a structural engineer. He started playing piano at age six, but only "got serious" by the time he was eleven. At age thirteen, he studied piano privately with concert pianist and educator Jakob Gimpel (whom Goldsmith would later employ to perform piano solos in his score to The Mephisto Waltz) and by the age of sixteen he was studying both theory and counterpoint under Italian composer Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, who also tutored such noteworthy composers and musicians as Henry Mancini, Nelson Riddle, Herman Stein, André Previn, Marty Paich, and John Williams.
At age sixteen, Goldsmith saw the 1945 film Spellbound in theaters and was inspired by veteran composer Miklós Rózsa's soundtrack to pursue a career in music. Goldsmith later enrolled and attended the University of Southern California where he was able to attend courses by Rózsa, but dropped out in favor of a more "practical music program" at the Los Angeles City College. There he was able to coach singers, work as an assistant choral director, play piano accompaniment, and work as an assistant conductor.
Jerry Goldsmith has often been considered one of film music history's most innovative and influential composers. While presenting Goldsmith with a Career Achievement Award from the Society for the Preservation of Film Music in 1993, fellow composer Henry Mancini (Breakfast at Tiffany's, The Pink Panther) said of Goldsmith, "... he has instilled two things in his colleagues in this town. One thing he does, he keeps us honest. And the second one is he scares the hell out of us." In his review of the 1999 re-issue of the Star Trek: The Motion Picture soundtrack, Bruce Eder highly praised Goldsmith's ability, stating, "...one of the new tracks, 'Spock's Arrival,' may be the closest that Goldsmith has ever come to writing serious music in a pure Romantic idiom; this could have been the work of Rimsky-Korsakov or Stravinsky — it's that good." In a 2001 interview, film composer Marco Beltrami (3:10 to Yuma, The Hurt Locker) stated, "Without Jerry, film music would probably be in a different place than it is now. I think he, more than any other composer bridged the gap between the old Hollywood scoring style and the the modern film composer."
In 2006, upon composing The Omen (a remake of the Goldsmith-scored 1976 film), Marco Beltrami dedicated his score to Goldsmith, which also included an updated arrangement of "Ave Satani" titled "Omen 76/06". Likewise, when composer Brian Tyler was commissioned in 2012 to update the Universal Studios logo for the Universal centennial, he retained the "classic melody" originally composed by Goldsmith in 1997, opting to "bring it into the 21st century."
Goldsmith was greatly influenced by movements of early 20th-century classical music, notably modernism, Americana, impressionism, dodecaphonism, and early film scores. He has cited Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copland, Miklós Rózsa, Bernard Herrmann, Béla Bartók, and Alban Berg, among others, as some of the main influences to his style of composition.
His style has been noted for its unique instrumentation, utilizing a vast array of ethnic instruments, recorded sounds, synthetic textures, and the traditional orchestra, often concurrently. When asked about his inclination for embracing new techniques and constantly shifting his musical palette throughout his career, Goldsmith said, "It seems like it's me, and that's that! Certain composers are doing the same thing over and over again, which I feel is sort of uninteresting. I don't find that you grow very much in that way. I like to keep changing, trying to do new things. Basically, I'm saying the same thing with a little different twist on it. Once you get caught up in the creative process, something inside takes over, and your subconscious just does it for you."
One reason for the consistency of Goldsmith's aural resonance and signature sound is his long time professional association with orchestrator Arthur Morton. Their first collaboration was on the film, Take Her She's Mine. In 1965, Goldsmith was tapped to score the features, Von Ryan's Express and Morituri. He recruited Morton to serve as his orchestrator. Their bond for a unique and expressive sound was borne, and their friendship flourished. Goldsmith went on to compose the soundtracks for Our Man Flint, The Trouble with Angels (with Frank De Vol), The Blue Max, The Sand Pebbles, and Stagecoach, all in 1966. Morton was there providing his orchestration services, assisting Goldsmith in attaining his visionary sounds. Their partnership endured for over 30 years and included the notable scores for Planet of the Apes (1968), Patton (1970), Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970), Papillon (1973), Chinatown (1974), The Omen (1976), MacArthur (1977), Capricorn One (1978), Alien (1979), Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979), Poltergeist (1982), First Blood (1982), Under Fire (1983), The Russia House (1990). The final score that Arthur Morton orchestrated for Goldsmith was L.A. Confidential (1997).
Goldsmith died at his Beverly Hills home on July 21, 2004, from colon cancer at the age of 75. He was survived by his wife Carol and his children Aaron, Joel (who also died of cancer on April 29, 2012), Carrie, Ellen Edson, and Jennifer Grossman.
Magic Carpet Ride
Jerry Goldsmith Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Right between the sound machine
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
Any place it goes is right
Goes far, flies near
To the stars away from here
Well, you don't know what
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what
We can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes now
Look inside now
Let the sound
Take you away
Last night I hold Aladdin's lamp
So I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
I looked
Around
A lousy candle's all I found
Well, you don't know what
We can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
Well, you don't know what
We can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Close your eyes now
Look inside now
Let the sound
Take you away
The lyrics of Jerry Goldsmith's "Magic Carpet Ride" entail a dreamy and surreal discovery of one's self and the possibility that lies ahead in the world of fantasy. The singer takes the listener on a "magic carpet ride" where they are transported to various places and experiences on this imaginary medium. The lyrics "I like to dream, yes, yes. Right between the sound machine. On a cloud of sound, I drift in the night. Any place it goes is right" describe a vivid dream full of sensations and sounds that envelop the singer.
The lyrics also suggest the power of imagination and communication in shaping one's destiny. The lines "Well, you don't know what we can find. Why don't you come with me little girl. On a magic carpet ride" and "Why don't you tell your dreams to me. Fantasy will set you free" invite the listener to take part in this wondrous journey and empower them to share their dreams. The lyrics also reference the classic tale of Aladdin, further emphasizing the idea of the power of imagination and discovery.
Line by Line Meaning
I like to dream, yes, yes
I enjoy daydreaming.
Right between the sound machine
My mind wanders between different sounds.
On a cloud of sound I drift in the night
I allow myself to become lost in the melody of the music.
Any place it goes is right
I allow the music to take me anywhere it wants to go.
Goes far, flies near
The music can take me on a journey, even if I never leave my room.
To the stars away from here
The music can take me far away from my everyday reality.
Well, you don't know what
We can find
Why don't you come with me little girl
On a magic carpet ride
There is so much to discover, and I invite others to come along on this adventure with me.
Well, you don't know what
We can see
Why don't you tell your dreams to me
Fantasy will set you free
Opening up to others about their dreams can help them feel free and empowered.
Close your eyes now
Look inside now
Let the sound
Take you away
Relax and let the music take you on a journey.
Last night I hold Aladdin's lamp
So I wished that I could stay
Before the thing could answer me
Well, someone came and took the lamp away
Sometimes we have a sudden moment of clarity or insight, but it can be fleeting and taken away just as quickly.
I looked
Around
A lousy candle's all I found
Sometimes we want something grand, but end up with something disappointing.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Songtrust Ave
Written by: JOHN KAY, RUSHTON JOHN MOREVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Dave Crupel
mlee2001 You forget what the word "astro-naut" really is.
the suffix "naut" is a greek word. for all intents and purposes, naut is used to define an explorer. a pioneer. a frontiersman. and still very much means that today. an "aqua-naut" is an explorer of the seas, oceans, and other bodiesof water. a "Geo-naut" could be used for someone exploring the depths of a planet. A "helio-naut"might one day be used for someone who dives into a star (assuming we ever develop technology for that) to study how it works on the inside.
An explorer of stars (directly)
And, of course, the more commonly used "astro-naut" meaning one who explores Outer Space.
I believe the most famous ancient example comes from "Jason and the Argonauts". The Argonauts were explorers berthed out of the ancient city of Argos. They explored the Meditteranean.
Im sure other cities had such explorers too.
The "Athenauts" perhaps.
but yeah. by definition, Starfleet is an organization of Astronauts. perfectly legitimate word for them.
NVek
I hope, that in the distant future on the real first warp-flight, the astronauts will remember this and blast this song all through their communicationsystems
Herdsire
+Martok86 It shall be done.
Dave Crupel
I shall blast this On my first journey to the stars......and if the one im on turns out to be my last one. <:,)
Gregory Tingler
Make it so!
bernisweltredsun
Best comment ever! Thumbs up!
Mike Jung
I can't believe more people haven't checked this out. Most righteous moment of the best TNG film when he turns this song on.
MsLogjam
I shared it on my FB page during the election. Because the present was so dreary, I wanted to post my favorite film depiction of the future as a sign of hope and good faith.
Richard Hopkins
That and in Insurrection when Riker mentions using the Briar Patch the same way that Brer Rabbit did.
Benjamin Johnson
Coming back to this after the homage in Star Trek Picard
MikeLinPA
I sure was stoked!