Kamen was born in New York City, the second of four sons. His father Saul Kamen was a dentist, and his mother, Harriet, was a teacher. While attending the The High School of Music & Art in New York City, Michael Kamen met and became friends with Martin Fulterman (later known as Mark Snow, who composed the theme music for The X-Files among other projects). While studying the oboe, he formed a rock classical fusion band called New York Rock & Roll Ensemble, together with classmates Fulterman and Dorian Rudnytsky. The group performed their music while dressed in tuxedos. In the middle of the concert, Fulterman and Kamen would play an oboe duet. The group backed up friend and classmate Janis Ian in a concert at Alice Tully Hall in late 1967. After graduating high school, Kamen attended The Juilliard School, also in New York City.
Kamen's early work centered on ballets, thirteen in all, then expanding into Hollywood by writing the score for The Next Man in 1976, then into pop and rock arranging, collaborating with Pink Floyd on their album, The Wall.
Kamen became a highly-sought arranger in the realms of pop and rock music. His contemporaries in this field included Academy Award winner Anne Dudley, Richard Niles, and Nick Ingman. His successes include his work with Pink Floyd, David Gilmour and Roger Waters (he is one of the few people to have been invited to work with both former Pink Floyd members, after their acrimonious split), as well as Queen (orchestration on Who Wants To Live Forever), Eric Clapton (on Edge of Darkness), Roger Daltrey, Aerosmith (live orchestral version of Dream On for MTV), Tom Petty, Bon Jovi, David Bowie, Bryan Ferry, Eurythmics, Queensrÿche, Rush, Metallica (on their live album, S&M), Def Leppard, Herbie Hancock, The Cranberries, Bryan Adams, Jim Croce, Coldplay, Sting, and Kate Bush. For Bush, Kamen delivered an orchestral backing for "Moments of Pleasure" from The Red Shoes album, substantially building upon a simple piano theme Bush had composed. In this instance, and many others, he conducted the orchestra personally for the recording. In 1984, Kamen had similarly heightened the impact of a pop recording for the Eurythmics "Here Comes the Rain Again", that score relying as much on his compositional skills as his arranging talents. Five years later, he did the music for For Queen and Country.
In 1990, Kamen joined many other guests for Roger Waters' performance of The Wall in Berlin and headed the National Philharmonic Orchestra during the 24 Nights sessions with Eric Clapton the following year.
Lenny Kravitz recorded a cover of "Fields of Joy" on his 1991 CD Mama Said that Michael co-wrote with Hal Fredricks.
In 2002, he was part of the Concert for George as string conductor.
Kamen had a very successful partnership with Bryan Adams and R.J. Lange composing scores and songs. The ballad "(Everything I Do) I Do It for You" for the 1991 film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves would be the number one song of that year, worldwide. Other songs would be "All For Love" for the movie "The Three Musketeers" in 1993, and "Have You Ever Really Loved a Woman?" the song from the film "Don Juan DeMarco" in 1995.
Kamen wrote eleven ballets, a saxophone concerto and an electric guitar concerto (with Japanese guitarist Tomoyasu Hotei as a soloist). Additionally, he wrote a commissioned work, "Quintet," for the Canadian Brass. He also provided scores for the films such as Back to Gaya, The Dead Zone (film), For Queen and Country, Polyester, Brazil, Someone To Watch Over Me, The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, The Three Musketeers, Highlander, X-Men, Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, Licence to Kill, the Lethal Weapon series, the first three films of the Die Hard series, Mr. Holland's Opus, The Iron Giant, Splitting Heirs, Frequency, and many others. To this day the overture from Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is used by Morgan Creek Productions for its logo, while New Line's corresponding theme is the opening segment of a track from Highlander. He also scored both the From the Earth to the Moon and Band of Brothers series on HBO. The trailer for the 2008 Disney/Pixar release WALL-E featured Kamen's 'Central Services / The Office' from his Brazil 1985 OST.
In television, Kamen composed music for two series of The Manageress produced by Glenn Wilhide at Zed Productions for Channel 4, but perhaps his best known work was on the 1985 BBC Television serial Edge of Darkness, on which he collaborated with Eric Clapton to write the score. The pair were awarded with a British Academy Television Award for Best Original Television Music for their work and performed the main movie theme with the National Philharmonic Orchestra at the Royal Albert Hall of London in 1990 and 1991. In 1994, Kamen conducted an orchestration of The Who's music for Roger Daltrey's 50th birthday concert series entitled Celebration: The Music of Pete Townshend and The Who which was subsequently released on CD and DVD. He also worked with heavy metal band Metallica, on a two day concert that was held in Berkeley, California, with the San Francisco Symphony. A recording of the concert, titled S&M, debuted at #2 on the Billboard 200, won a Grammy for the "Best Rock Instrumental Performance" in 2000 and went multi-platinum in 2001.
Kamen was nominated for two Academy Awards and won three Grammy Awards, two Golden Globes, two Ivor Novello Awards, an Annie Award and an Emmy.
His involvement with Mr. Holland's Opus, a film about a frustrated composer who finds fulfillment as a high school music teacher, led Kamen to create The Mr. Holland's Opus Foundation in 1996. The foundation supports music education through the donation of new and refurbished musical instruments to underserved school and community music programs and individual students in the United States. In 2005 the foundation created an emergency fund for schools and students affected by Hurricane Katrina.
In 1999, Kamen and the San Francisco Symphony constructed and performed a concert with thrash metal band Metallica. This concert was released as a live album on DVD, VHS and CD, under the title S&M (an acronym for "Symphony and Metallica" but also wordplay on the abbreviation for sadomasochism). In 2001 and 2002, Kamen performed with David Gilmour at Gilmour's semi-unplugged shows at the Royal Festival Hall, playing piano and cor anglais. The 2001 concert and highlights from 2002 were released as a DVD as David Gilmour in Concert.
In 2002, Kamen, along with Julian Lloyd Webber, Dame Evelyn Glennie, and Sir James Galway launched the Music Education Consortium in the UK. The consortium's efforts led to the injection of £332 million for music education in the UK. He was also commissioned to write a piece for the opening ceremonies of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Kamen was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1997. He died in London from a heart attack in 2003, at the age of 55. His last recorded work appeared on Bryan Adams's album Room Service where he played the oboe and wrote the orchestration to "I Was Only Dreamin'". Kamen had also completed the charts for accompaniment to two songs on Kate Bush's album Aerial, which was released in April 2005. Some of Bush's fans, pleased by Kamen's scoring of "Moments of Pleasure" from Bush's 1993 album The Red Shoes, expressed gratitude when it became known that the work had been finished.[citation needed]
In 2004, when Annie Lennox accepted the Academy Award for Best Original Song (her composition "Into the West" from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), she dedicated her achievement to the memory of Kamen.
The 2004 movies First Daughter and Boo, Zino & the Snurks|Back To Gaya, which he was working on at the time of his death, were dedicated to his memory.
David Gilmour's 2006 album On an Island was dedicated in his and longtime Pink Floyd manager Steve O'Rourke's memories.
Michael Kamen is survived by his wife, Sandra Keenan-Kamen, and by his daughters, Sasha and Zoe.
Requiem For A Soldier
Michael Kamen Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
What you gave to me
One shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
With a host of brave unknown soldiers
For your company you will live forever
Here in our memory
Heroes paid the price
Young men who died for old men's wars
Gone to paradise
We are all one great band of brothers
cnd one day you'll see we can live together
When all the world is free
I wish you'd lived to see
cll you gave to me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
We are all one great band of brothers
cnd one day you'll see - we can live together
When all the world is free
The lyrics of Michael Kamen's song "Requiem for a Soldier" carry a poignant and powerful message of remembrance, honor, and unity. The song pays tribute to the brave soldiers who sacrificed their lives in wars fought for the sake of others. It captures the theme of lives lost too soon and the hope for a better, more inclusive world.
The opening lines, "You never lived to see, What you gave to me," express the deep gratitude felt towards the fallen soldiers who fought for a brighter future for generations to come. The song acknowledges the selflessness of these soldiers and the dreams they held, represented by the "shining dream of hope and love, life and liberty."
The lyrics continue, "With a host of brave unknown soldiers, for your company, you will live forever, here in our memory." Here, the song illustrates the eternal impact that these soldiers have on society. They may be unknown individually, but their collective sacrifice and bravery will endure in the memory of those they fought for.
The second verse, "In fields of sacrifice, heroes paid the price, young men who died for old men's wars, gone to paradise," reflects on the tragedy of young lives lost in wars often orchestrated by the older generation. It also hints at the idea that these fallen soldiers have found peace and solace in a better place.
The song then emphasizes the unity that can bring about a world free from the horrors of war, with the line "We are all one great band of brothers, and one day you'll see we can live together when all the world is free." This calls for a future where humanity transcends boundaries, conflicts, and divisions, living in harmony and freedom.
Line by Line Meaning
You never lived to see
You did not have the opportunity to witness
What you gave to me
The things you bestowed upon me
One shining dream of hope and love
A single radiant vision filled with optimism and affection
Life and liberty
Existence and freedom
With a host of brave unknown soldiers
Accompanied by numerous courageous unidentified warriors
For your company you will live forever
Because of your companionship, your legacy will endure eternally
Here in our memory
Within our recollections
In fields of sacrifice
Amidst areas where great offerings have been made
Heroes paid the price
Valiant individuals suffered the consequences
Young men who died for old men's wars
Youthful individuals who perished in conflicts initiated by older generations
Gone to paradise
Departed to a celestial haven
We are all one great band of brothers
We are a unified collective fraternity
And one day you'll see - we can live together
Eventually, you will realize that we can coexist harmoniously
When all the world is free
When universal liberation is achieved
I wish you'd lived to see
I desire that you had the opportunity to experience
All you gave to me
Everything you bestowed upon me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Your radiant vision filled with optimism and affection
Life and liberty
Existence and freedom
We are all one great band of brothers
We are a unified collective fraternity
And one day you'll see - we can live together
Eventually, you will realize that we can coexist harmoniously
When all the world is free
When universal liberation is achieved
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@liantluangahmar2087
You never lived to see
What you gave to me
One shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
With a host of brave unknown soldiers
For your company, you will live forever
Here in our memory
In fields of sacrifice
Heroes paid the price
Young men who died for old men's wars
Gone to paradise
We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see we can live together
When all the world is free
I wish you'd lived to see
All you gave to me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see - we can live together
When all the world is free
@deauvillevrienden
You never lived to see
What you gave to me
One shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
With a host of brave unknown Soldiers
For your company, you will live forever
Here in our memory
In fields of sacrifice
Heroes paid the price
Young men who died for old men's wars
Gone to paradise
We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see we can live together
When all the world is free
I wish you'd lived to see
All you gave to me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty
We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see - we can live together
When all the world is free
@alexemmerson58
Thank you 101st.
Thank you to the unsung Algerian heros.
Thank you to the British Armed forces.
The French and German resistance.
And to those especially who fought against the Nazis without weapons. Who gave there lives so that we may live is a free world.
love that is simply free is a wonderful thing - Sophie Scholl
Es Lebe Die Freiheit
long Live Freedom
@Jeroeniepoen
Requiem For A Soldier"
You never lived to see
What you gave to me
One shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty With a host of brave unknown soldiers
For your company, you will live forever
Here in our memory In fields of sacrifice
Heroes paid the price
Young men who died for old men's wars
Gone to paradise We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see we can live together
When all the world is free I wish you'd lived to see
All you gave to me
Your shining dream of hope and love
Life and liberty We are all one great band of brothers
And one day you'll see - we can live together
When all the world is free
@justdave8303
To my father who has been a ghost in my life. An armored infantryman in Patton's Third Army, he was severely wounded in his neck and lower back by shrapnel from a German potato masher. He never recovered and ultimately took his own life when I was two. May the Almighty bless and keep the families who have lost a soldier/family member in war. 😔
@leejones6286
He's resting easy now pal. Your father was a hero. Remember that 👍
@barsoom43
Everyone who goes to war is wounded, one way or another.. Some die in war but don't know it.. they come home and die again by their own hand.. A WWII infantryman lived next door to me when I was a kid.. When he was about 45 or so, he killed himself.. He never ate chicken.. I asked him one time why not- stupid kids ask adults about such things. He told me while in Europe, he saw chickens peck the eyes out of dead men and he swore he'd never eat chicken again.. Every soldier is wounded, regardless of army..
@garrettandrews79
My grandfather served in Patton's third ID, .50 Cal gunner on jeep. He fought in the bulge, all the way into Berlin. Never talked about it except for the bitter cold in Bastogne.
@williambowdoin364
PTSD
@Baseballisbest67
😢
@edgecutterman
This is so heavenly. and this sentence or dialog i will never forget. "Grandpa, were you a hero?" "No, but i served in a company of heroes."
@christophercondon5048
😢
@christopherinkoom9955
🥲❤️🔥
@terrys6772
For my Grandfather. Born in England 1890, died in France 1916. I never knew you and your son, my father, had no memory of you. But you ARE remembered. R.I.P.