Glass founded the Philip Glass Ensemble, with which he still performs on keyboards. He has written numerous operas and musical theatre works, twelve symphonies, eleven concertos, eight string quartets and various other chamber music, and film scores. Three of his film scores have been nominated for Academy Awards.
Glass was born in Baltimore, Maryland, the son of Ida (née Gouline) and Benjamin Charles Glass. His family were Jewish emigrants from Lithuania. His father owned a record store and his mother was a librarian. In his memoir, Glass recalls that at the end of World War II his mother aided Jewish Holocaust survivors, inviting recent arrivals to America to stay at their home until they could find a job and a place to live. She developed a plan to help them learn English and develop skills so they could find work. His sister, Sheppie, would later do similar work as an active member of the International Rescue Committee.
Glass developed his appreciation of music from his father, discovering later his father's side of the family had many musicians. His cousin Cevia was a classical pianist, while others had been in vaudeville.
Glass has composed many film scores, starting with the orchestral score for Koyaanisqatsi (1982), and continuing with two biopics, Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters (1985, resulting in the String Quartet No. 3) and Kundun (1997) about the Dalai Lama, for which he received his first Academy Award nomination. In 1968 he composed and conducted the score for director Harrison Engle's minimalist comedy short, Railroaded, played by the Philip Glass Ensemble. This was one of his earliest film efforts.
The year after scoring Hamburger Hill (1987), Glass began a long collaboration with the filmmaker Errol Morris with his music for Morris's celebrated documentaries, including The Thin Blue Line (1988) and A Brief History of Time (1991). He continued composing for the Qatsi trilogy with the scores for Powaqqatsi (1988) and Naqoyqatsi (2002). In 1995 he composed the theme for Reggio's short independent film Evidence. He made a cameo appearance—briefly visible performing at the piano—in Peter Weir's The Truman Show (1998), which uses music from Powaqqatsi, Anima Mundi and Mishima, as well as three original tracks by Glass. In the 1990s, he also composed scores for Bent (1997) and the thriller Candyman (1992) and its sequel, Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh (1995), plus a film adaptation of Joseph Conrad's The Secret Agent (1996).
In 1999, he finished a new soundtrack for the 1931 film Dracula. The Hours (2002) earned him a second Academy Award nomination, and was followed by another Morris documentary, The Fog of War (2003). In the mid-2000s Glass provided the scores to films such as Secret Window (2004), Neverwas (2005), The Illusionist and Notes on a Scandal, garnering his third Academy Award nomination for the latter. Glass's most recent film scores include No Reservations (Glass makes a brief cameo in the film sitting at an outdoor café), Cassandra's Dream (2007), Les Regrets (2009), Mr Nice (2010), the Brazilian film Nosso Lar (2010) and Fantastic Four (2015, in collaboration with Marco Beltrami). In 2009, Glass composed original theme music for Transcendent Man, about the life and ideas of Ray Kurzweil by filmmaker Barry Ptolemy.
In the 2000s Glass's work from the 1980s again became known to wider public through various media. In 2005 his Concerto for Violin and Orchestra (1987) was featured in the surreal French thriller, La Moustache, providing a tone intentionally incongruous to the banality of the movie's plot. Metamorphosis: Metamorphosis One from Solo Piano (1989) was featured in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica in the episode "Valley of Darkness" and also in the final episode ("return 0") of Person of Interest. In 2008, Rockstar Games released Grand Theft Auto IV featuring Glass's "Pruit Igoe" (from Koyaanisqatsi). "Pruit Igoe" and "Prophecies" (also from Koyaanisqatsi) were used both in a trailer for Watchmen and in the film itself. Watchmen also included two other Glass pieces in the score: "Something She Has To Do" from The Hours and "Protest" from Satyagraha, act 2, scene 3. In 2013 Glass contributed a piano piece "Duet" to the Park Chan-wook film Stoker. In 2017 Glass scored the National Geographic Films documentary Jane (a documentary on the life of renowned British primatologist Jane Goodall).
Glass's music was featured in two award-winning films by Russian director Andrey Zvyagintsev, Elena (2011) and Leviathan (2014).
For television, Glass composed the theme for Night Stalker (2005).
Changing Opinion
Philip Glass Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
we became aware
of a hum in the room
an electrical hum in the room
It went mmmmmm
We followed it from
corner to corner
against the walls
We crossed diagonals
and put our hands on the floor
It went mmmmmm
Sometimes it was
a murmur
Sometimes it was
a pulse
Sometimes it seemed
to disappear
But then with a quarter-turn
of the head
it would roll around the sofa
A nimbus humming cloud
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of a calm refrigerator
cooling on a big night
Maybe it's the hum
of our parents' voices
long ago in a soft light
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of changing opinion
or a foreign language
in prayer
Maybe it's the mantra
of the walls and wiring
Deep breathing
in soft air
mmmmmm
The lyrics of Philip Glass's song Changing Opinion paint a picture of people becoming aware of a hum in the room, which seems to be coming from all around them. As they try to follow the hum, they press their ears against the walls, cross diagonals, and even put their hands on the floor in an attempt to locate the sound. Sometimes it's a murmur, sometimes a pulse, and sometimes it seems to disappear. But then, with just a slight turn of the head, the hum rolls around the sofa, creating a "nimbus humming cloud."
Throughout the song, Glass offers up several possibilities for what the hum might be, including the hum of a calm refrigerator cooling on a big night, the hum of parents' voices long ago in a soft light, and even the hum of changing opinion or a foreign language in prayer. The hum could also be seen as the "mantra of the walls and wiring," a representation of deep breathing in soft air. The ambiguity of the lyrics allows for multiple interpretations, leaving it up to the listener to decide what the hum represents to them.
Overall, the song is a meditation on sound and its effects on the human psyche. The hum represents the ways in which we are affected by the world around us, whether through the steady rhythms of everyday life or the more ephemeral echoes of memory and emotion.
Line by Line Meaning
Gradually
We started examining surroundings in detail
we became aware
We started noticing something unusual
of a hum in the room
There was a low-frequency sound that was very evident
an electrical hum in the room
The sound was similar to electricity running through equipment
It went mmmmmm
The sound was consistent
We followed it from
We traced it throughout the entire room
corner to corner
From every single angle
We pressed out ears
We listened carefully
against the walls
To the surfaces near us
We crossed diagonals
We moved in a pattern of intersecting lines
and put our hands on the floor
To feel vibrations
Sometimes it was
At times the hum was
a murmur
A soft sound
Sometimes it was
Other times the sound was
a pulse
Pulsating in nature
Sometimes it seemed
Occasionally it felt like
to disappear
It wasn't always audible
But then with a quarter-turn
When we slightly adjusted
of the head
Positioning our head
it would roll around the sofa
The sound changed direction and travelled across the room
A nimbus humming cloud
A captivating and continuously sounding phenomenon
mmmmmm
Emanating the same humming sound
Maybe it's the hum
Perhaps the sound originates from
of a calm refrigerator
A peaceful hum of a fridge
cooling on a big night
Functioning at full capacity
Maybe it's the hum
It could also be caused by
of our parents' voices
An echo of cherished memories
long ago in a soft light
From a distant and happy time
mmmmmm
The same soothing hum
Maybe it's the hum
Another plausible source of sound is
of changing opinion
A hum that comes with a shift in perspective
or a foreign language
A sound that's unfamiliar and hard to understand
in prayer
Perhaps a spiritual hum
Maybe it's the mantra
It could be a sound that's constant and repetitive
of the walls and wiring
A vibration from the room's structure
Deep breathing
Slow and meditative respiration
in soft air
The calm atmosphere that surrounds us
mmmmmm
The constant background noise
Contributed by Camilla C. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@estebanposadaduque6415
Gradually
we became aware
of a hum in the room
an electrical hum in the room
It went mmmmmm
We followed it from
corner to corner
We pressed our ears
against the walls
We crossed diagonals
and put our hands on the floor
It went mmmmmm
Sometimes it was
a murmur
Sometimes it was
a pulse
Sometimes it seemed
to disappear
But then with a quarter-turn
of the head
it would roll around the sofa
A nimbus humming cloud
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of a calm refrigerator
cooling on a big night
Maybe it's the hum
of our parents' voices
long ago in a soft light
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of changing opinion
or a foreign language
in prayer
Maybe it's the mantra
of the walls and wiring
Deep breathing
in soft air
mmmmmm
Lyrics by Paul Simon
@Paco430
[lyrics by Paul Simon]
Changing opinion
Gradually
we became aware
of a hum in the room
an electrical hum in the room
It went mmmmmm
We followed it from
corner to corner
We pressed out ears
against the walls
We crossed diagonals
and put our hands on the floor
It went mmmmmm
Sometimes it was
a murmur
Sometimes it was
a pulse
Sometimes it seemed
to disappear
But then with a quarter-turn
of the head
it would roll around the sofa
A nimbus humming cloud
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of a calm refrigerator
cooling on a big night
Maybe it's the hum
of our parents' voices
long ago in a soft light
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of changing opinion
or a foreign language
in prayer
Maybe it's the mantra
of the walls and wiring
Deep breathing
in soft air
mmmmmm
@aitaitxebe
Cambio de opinión.
Poco a poco nos dimos cuenta de un zumbido en la habitación
Un zumbido eléctrico en la habitación
Se fue mmmmmm
Lo seguimos de esquina a esquina
Presionamos nuestras orejas contra las paredes
Cruzamos en diagonal y pusimos nuestras manos en el suelo
Se fue mmmmmm
A veces era un murmullo
A veces era un pulso
A veces parecía desaparecer
Pero luego, al girar la cabeza, rodaba alrededor del sofá
Un zumbido de un halo de nube mmmmmm
Tal vez sea el zumbido de un refrigerador enfriándose en una gran noche
Tal vez es el zumbido de las voces de nuestros padres hace mucho tiempo en una luz tenue mmmmmm
Tal vez es el zumbido de cambiar de opinión o un idioma extranjero en la oración
Tal vez es el mantra de las paredes y el cableado
Respiración profunda en aire suave mmmmmm
@Holoverse718
A perfect song and one of my all time favorites
@jorgecarbonell4802
An atemporal song an a gift for the humanity. So deep an beautiful. Thanks.
@CHOP194
Merci Anthox
@1986kikoolol
La même, quelle claque.
@estebanposadaduque6415
Gradually
we became aware
of a hum in the room
an electrical hum in the room
It went mmmmmm
We followed it from
corner to corner
We pressed our ears
against the walls
We crossed diagonals
and put our hands on the floor
It went mmmmmm
Sometimes it was
a murmur
Sometimes it was
a pulse
Sometimes it seemed
to disappear
But then with a quarter-turn
of the head
it would roll around the sofa
A nimbus humming cloud
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of a calm refrigerator
cooling on a big night
Maybe it's the hum
of our parents' voices
long ago in a soft light
mmmmmm
Maybe it's the hum
of changing opinion
or a foreign language
in prayer
Maybe it's the mantra
of the walls and wiring
Deep breathing
in soft air
mmmmmm
Lyrics by Paul Simon
@silvia5595
Best written Paul Simon song of all time.
@53mileswestofvenus
From one of my favorite albums--thank you for posting this. The album is a masterpiece, and this song is a good example of that. Sheer brilliance.
@CheckersSpeech
Ha ha, a person after my own heart: Philip Glass and B52s lol ...
@PeppermintTwyst
@@CheckersSpeech Thanks--we're a rare breed! (I'm "53mileswestofvenus", that was my handle years ago on YouTube.) Nice to meet you, fellow Philip Glass and B-52's lover!
@michaliskonstantinidis8926
masterpiece