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).
NYC: 73-78
Philip Glass Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
High high
Low low
High high
Low low
High low
High low
High i'm like the painter
Who does abstract painting at home low
High i'm like the painter
Who does abstract painting at home
But likes to go to the sidewalk
And do sketches of people in the street
People in the street high
Low people in the street
High low
People in the street high
Low high
Low i was living in a wasteland
Dominated by these maniacs
These complete creeps
I was almost killed a few times
German puppets burnt the Jews
Jewish puppets did not choose
Puppet vultures eat the dead
Puppet corpses they are fed
Puppet winds and puppet waves
Puppet sailors in their graves puppet flower
Puppet stem puppet time dismantles them
I was living in a wasteland
Dominated by these maniacs
I was almost killed a few times
There were six or seven cab
Drivers murdered a year all around you
Except for the imminent violence
All around you all the violence around you
All around you
Except for the imminent violence
All around you all around you
I was living in a wasteland
Imminent violence all around you
Except for the imminent
Dominated by these maniacs
Imminent violence all around you
I was almost killed a few times
The imminent violence all around you
Except for the imminent violence
All around you there were six or seven cab
Drivers murdered a year maniac
All around you all around you
Violence all around
I liked it except for the imminent
All around you
I liked it except for the imminent
All around you all around you
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
Seventy-three seventy-eight
The song "NYC: 73-78" by Philip Glass is a reflection on the artist's experiences and observations living in New York City during the years indicated in the title. The lyrics are a stream of consciousness that blends personal anecdotes with broader societal issues. The opening lines of the song establish a series of contrasting emotions and moods, with the repetition of "high" and "low" suggesting the ups and downs of living in New York. The comparison to a painter who creates abstract works at home but goes out to sketch people on the street emphasizes the idea of the city as a source of inspiration and creativity.
The second part of the song shifts focus to the violence and chaos that existed in New York during these years. The references to German and Jewish puppets and puppeteers, puppet vultures, and puppet sailors evoke images of a world out of control. The repeated mention of "imminent violence" creates a sense of unease and danger that was a part of daily life in the city. The final lines of the song return to the initial "high" and "low," suggesting that despite the challenges, there was something intoxicating and alluring about living in New York City at this time.
Line by Line Meaning
High high
A feeling of elation
High high
A feeling of elation
Low low
A feeling of depression
High high
A feeling of elation
Low low
A feeling of depression
High low
Fluctuating between elation and depression
High low
Fluctuating between elation and depression
High i'm like the painter
I am an artist who enjoys painting at home
Low high
The contrast between feeling down and feeling good
Who does abstract painting at home low
I am opposed to conventional forms of art
High i'm like the painter
I am an artist who enjoys painting at home
Who does abstract painting at home
I am opposed to conventional forms of art
But likes to go to the sidewalk
But I enjoy sketching people on the street
And do sketches of people in the street
And I find inspiration in people and places outside of my home
People in the street high
I am fascinated by the people I see on the street
Low people in the street
But I also see desperation and sadness in some of them
High low
Fluctuating between fascination and despair
People in the street high
I am fascinated by the people I see on the street
Low high
But sometimes their struggles make me feel happy to have a home
Low i was living in a wasteland
I describe the environment that I lived in as a desolate place
Dominated by these maniacs
The environment was ruled by deranged people
These complete creeps
People with immoral and unacceptable behavior
I was almost killed a few times
I experienced a great deal of danger in that place
German puppets burnt the Jews
I am referencing the Holocaust and how the oppressed became oppressors
Jewish puppets did not choose
I am saying it does not matter one's religion, being a puppet of an oppressive regime is not a choice
Puppet vultures eat the dead
I am commenting on how the harmful actions of the powerful hurt and consume those who are vulnerable
Puppet corpses they are fed
The corpses of those who suffered from the powerful feed the system that caused their suffering
Puppet winds and puppet waves
I speak of uncontrollable forces that our lives and actions are sometimes at mercy to
Puppet sailors in their graves puppet flower
I use the metaphor of sailors lost at sea and a flower to illustrate how we are a part of nature and can be consumed by it
Puppet stem puppet time dismantles them
Time and natural processes can erode and destroy us, like it does to puppets on strings
I was living in a wasteland
I describe the environment that I lived in as a desolate place
Dominated by these maniacs
The environment was ruled by deranged people
I was almost killed a few times
I experienced a great deal of danger in that place
There were six or seven cab
I describe the high levels of danger in the environment
Drivers murdered a year all around you
Cab drivers were frequently murdered in the area where I lived or was present in
Except for the imminent violence
Violence could happen at any time and was a constant threat
All around you all the violence around you
Violence was prevalent
Except for the imminent violence
Violence could happen at any time and was a constant threat
All around you all around you
Violence was a part of the reality
I was living in a wasteland
I describe the environment that I lived in as a desolate place
Imminent violence all around you
Violence could happen at any time and was a constant threat
Except for the imminent
Despite the violence, there were things I liked about the place
Dominated by these maniacs
The environment was ruled by deranged people
Imminent violence all around you
Violence could happen at any time and was a constant threat
I was almost killed a few times
I experienced a great deal of danger in that place
The imminent violence all around you
Violence could happen at any time and was a constant threat
Except for the imminent violence
Despite the violence, there were things I liked about the place
All around you there were six or seven cab
Cab drivers were frequently murdered in the area where I lived or was present in
Drivers murdered a year maniac
The level of violence was incredibly high and it was caused by maniacs
All around you all around you
Violence was a part of the reality
Violence all around
Violence was prevalent
I liked it except for the imminent
There were things I liked about the environment despite the constant threat of violence
All around you
Violence was present in the environment
I liked it except for the imminent
There were things I liked about the environment despite the constant threat of violence
All around you all around you
Violence was a part of the reality
Seventy-three seventy-eight
The years that the song is specifically about
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Ben Nardolilli
Thanks for posting the song
Andrew Wallace
Everything about it is genius except the fucking cats.
Eric Cuellar
LMFAO