1) John Towner Willi… Read Full Bio ↴There are at least five artists with this name;
1) John Towner Williams (born February 8, 1932) is an American composer, conductor, and pianist. With a career spanning over six decades, he has composed some of the most popular, recognizable, and critically acclaimed film scores in cinematic history, including those of the Star Wars series, Jaws, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, the Indiana Jones series, the first two Home Alone films, Hook, the first two Jurassic Park films, Schindler's List, and the first three Harry Potter films. He has a very distinct sound that mixes romanticism, impressionism and atonal music with complex orchestration. The classical music critic Marcus Paus argues that Williams' "satisfying way of embodying complex dissonances and avant-garde techniques within a larger tonal framework" makes him "one of the great composers of any century".
Williams has been associated with director Steven Spielberg since 1974, composing music for all but three of his feature films. Other works by Williams include theme music for the 1984 Summer Olympic Games, NBC Sunday Night Football, "The Mission" theme used by NBC News and Seven News in Australia, the television series Lost in Space and Land of the Giants, and the incidental music for the first season of Gilligan's Island. Williams has also composed numerous classical concertos and other works for orchestral ensembles and solo instruments. He served as the Boston Pops's principal conductor from 1980 to 1993, and is currently the orchestra's laureate conductor.
Williams has won 24 Grammy Awards, seven British Academy Film Awards, five Academy Awards, and four Golden Globe Awards. With 51 Academy Award nominations, Williams is the second most-nominated individual, after Walt Disney. In 2005, the American Film Institute selected Williams's score to 1977's Star Wars as the greatest American film score of all time. The soundtrack to Star Wars was additionally preserved by the Library of Congress into the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". Williams was inducted into the Hollywood Bowl's Hall of Fame in 2000, and was a recipient of the Kennedy Center Honors in 2004 and the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2016. Williams composed the score for eight of the top 20 highest-grossing films at the U.S. box office (adjusted for inflation).
John Towner Williams was born on February 8, 1932 in Floral Park, New York, to Esther (née Towner) and Johnny Williams, a jazz percussionist who played with the Raymond Scott Quintet. Williams has said of his lineage, "My father was a Maine man—we were very close. My mother was from Boston. My father's parents ran a department store in Bangor, Maine, and my mother's father was a cabinetmaker. [...] People with those roots are not inclined to be lazy."
Williams married Barbara Ruick, an American actress and singer, in 1956. Together they had three children: Jennifer (b. 1956), Mark Towner Williams (b. 1958), and Joseph (b. 1960), who is the lead singer of Toto. The two remained married until her death in 1974. In 1980, Williams married Samantha Winslow, a photographer.
2) John Christopher Williams is a classical guitar player.
Born in Melbourne, Australia, on 24 April 1941, to an English father (Len Williams) and an Australian-Chinese mother, Williams was taught initially by his father. At the age of twelve he went to Italy to study under "The Maestro," Andrés Segovia. Later, he attended the Royal College of Music in London, studying piano because the school did not have a guitar department at the time. Upon graduation, he was offered the opportunity to create such a department. He seized the opportunity and ran it for the first two years. Williams has maintained links with the College (and with the Northern College in Manchester) ever since.
Williams is best known as a classical guitarist, but has explored many different musical traditions. He has collaborated with Julian Bream and Paco Peña and was a member of the fusion group Sky. He is also a composer and arranger.
Williams has commissioned guitar concertos from composers such as Stephen Dodgson, André Previn, Patrick Gowers, Richard Harvey, and Steve Gray. He has also worked with composers from his native Australia, including Phillip Houghton, Peter Sculthorpe, Ross Edwards (composer), and Nigel Westlake, to produce guitar works that capture the spirit of his homeland.
He enjoyed a worldwide hit single with his recording of Cavatina by Stanley Myers, used as the theme tune to the Oscar-winning film The Deer Hunter (1979). The piece had originally been written for piano, for another film ten years earlier, The Walking Stick (1970) but re-written for guitar and expanded by Myers at Williams' invitation. In 1973, Cleo Laine wrote lyrics and recorded the song "He Was Beautiful" accompanied by John Williams. A year later, it was a top-five UK hit single for Iris Williams (no relation).
At the invitation of producer Martin Lewis he created a highly acclaimed classical-rock fusion duet with celebrated rock guitarist Pete Townshend of Townshend's anthemic "Won't Get Fooled Again" for the 1979 Amnesty International benefit show The Secret Policeman's Ball. The duet was featured on the resulting album and the film version of the show – bringing Williams to the broader attention of the rock audience.
The relationship with Lewis led to Williams' classical-rock fusion band Sky being invited to give the first-ever rock concert to be held at Westminster Abbey – a benefit concert for Amnesty that Lewis produced in February 1981.
He is visiting professor at the Royal Academy of Music, London.
Williams and his artist wife Kathy Panama reside in London and Australia.
3) John Williams
John Williams is internationally regarded as one of the foremost players of Irish music today. With five All-Ireland titles to his credit, John is the only American-born competitor ever to win first place in the "senior concertina" category. His additional talents on flute, button accordion, bodhran, and piano distinguish him as a much sought after multi-instrumentalist in the acoustic scene around the world.
Born and raised on the Southwest Side of Chicago, John spent his summers during college on the Southwest coast of Ireland in his father’s village of Doolin, Co. Clare. Like Chicago, Doolin became a major musical crossroads for John and countless other local and international musicians to meet and exchange music. Gigging every night in the pubs of Doolin and Lisdoonvarna soon led to performances in Galway, Cork, Dublin, Belfast, Paris, Britanny, Zurich, and New York City (bio http://www.johnwilliamsmusic.com/bio.htm).
3) John Williams
A blues/jazz guitarist in Seattle, Washington, whose music is available at Magnatune.com (bio http://magnatune.com/artists/john_williams).
3) John Knowles Williams
An experimental/indie musician. Music is available at sweetnuthin.letsneverdie.net/Music/My_Recordings/ or www.myspace.com/JohnKWilliams.
Edelweiss
John Williams Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Att du aldrig känt vinden högt över trädtoppen
Du säger att den delar sig vid kinden
Och blir hel igen bakom dig
Varje moln är trasigt
Du räknar allt sorgligt natten lång
Och hon du älskade en gång
Och kanske älskar än
Nej kanske ingen
Kanske allt egentligen
Du säger 'har du tändstickor?'
- Ja tillräckligt om du vill bränna ner stockholm
'Och har du vin och sprit?'
- Så att det räcker att få hela fjärden full av sorger
Allt, det är för sent
För sent för vin, för sent för kärlek ren som snö
Inatt finns ingen väg tillbaks
Och du undrar vem som kysser henne nu
Du undrar vem
Vem om inte du
Och läpparna, du kallade dina
Det gör ont att veta
Men lika ont att undra
Du säger 'har du tändstickor?'
- Ja tillräckligt om du vill bränna ner stockholm
'Och har du vin och sprit?'
- Så att det räcker för att få hela fjärden full av sorger
Allt, det är för sent
För sent för vin, för sent för kärlek ren som snö
Inatt finns ingen väg tillbaks, ingen alls
These lyrics, from John Williams's song "Edelweiss," convey a sense of longing, regret, and a feeling of being trapped in the past. The singer begins by saying that love was never meant for them and that they have never experienced the exhilaration of being high above the treetops, feeling the wind. They describe love as something that breaks and heals behind them, implying that they have been hurt and are unable to move forward.
The reference to counting everything sorrowfully throughout the night suggests a state of melancholy and dwelling on past pain. The mention of the person they once loved highlights the pain of losing someone dear and the uncertainty of whether that love still exists. They question if it even matters anymore, reflecting a sense of hopelessness and questioning the significance of their emotions in the grand scheme of things.
The lines about matches and wanting to burn down Stockholm metaphorically speak to a desire for destruction and escape. The references to wine and alcohol suggest a longing to drown their sorrows and fill the fjord, symbolizing the overwhelming sadness they feel. They express a belief that it is too late for anything, including love and purity. There is a sense of finality and a lack of hope for any kind of redemption or return to a better state.
The lyrics end by stating that tonight there is no way back, emphasizing the idea of being trapped in their current state of longing and wondering about who might be kissing the person they once loved. The pain of knowing and the pain of wondering are both expressed in these lines. They repeat the question about matches, wine, and spirits, perhaps indicating a desperate search for something to numb the pain or bring about a drastic change.
Overall, these lyrics delve into themes of lost love, regret, and feeling stuck in a cycle of sorrow. The use of metaphors and vivid imagery creates a poignant and introspective atmosphere, allowing listeners to connect with the emotions conveyed in the song.
Line by Line Meaning
Du säger att kärleken aldrig var till för dig
You say that love was never meant for you
Att du aldrig känt vinden högt över trädtoppen
That you've never felt the wind high above the treetops
Du säger att den delar sig vid kinden
You say that it splits at the cheek
Och blir hel igen bakom dig
And becomes whole again behind you
Varje moln är trasigt
Every cloud is broken
Du räknar allt sorgligt natten lång
You count everything sadly through the night
Och hon du älskade en gång
And the one you once loved
Och kanske älskar än
And perhaps still loves
Spelar det någon roll?
Does it matter?
Nej kanske ingen
No, perhaps none
Kanske allt egentligen
Maybe everything, actually
Du säger 'har du tändstickor?'
You say 'do you have matches?'
- Ja tillräckligt om du vill bränna ner stockholm
- Yes, enough if you want to burn down Stockholm
'Och har du vin och sprit?'
'And do you have wine and liquor?'
- Så att det räcker att få hela fjärden full av sorger
- So that there's enough to fill the entire fjord with sorrows
Allt, det är för sent
Everything, it's too late
För sent för vin, för sent för kärlek ren som snö
Too late for wine, too late for love as pure as snow
Inatt finns ingen väg tillbaks
Tonight there's no way back
Och du undrar vem som kysser henne nu
And you wonder who is kissing her now
Du undrar vem
You wonder who
Vem om inte du
Who if not you
Och läpparna, du kallade dina
And the lips, the ones you called yours
Det gör ont att veta
It hurts to know
Men lika ont att undra
But equally painful to wonder
Du säger 'har du tändstickor?'
You say 'do you have matches?'
- Ja tillräckligt om du vill bränna ner stockholm
- Yes, enough if you want to burn down Stockholm
'Och har du vin och sprit?'
'And do you have wine and liquor?'
- Så att det räcker för att få hela fjärden full av sorger
- So that there's enough to fill the entire fjord with sorrows
Allt, det är för sent
Everything, it's too late
För sent för vin, för sent för kärlek ren som snö
Too late for wine, too late for love as pure as snow
Inatt finns ingen väg tillbaks, ingen alls
Tonight there's no way back, none at all
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Bjoergn Ingvar Olsson, Frans Ahlund, George Hakan Hellstrom
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind