Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman (born November 28, 1943) is a singer/songwrit… Read Full Bio ↴Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman (born November 28, 1943) is a singer/songwriter, arranger, composer, and pianist who is notable for his mordant (and often satirical) pop songs and for his many film scores.

Newman is noted for his practice of writing lyrics from the perspective of a character far removed from Newman's own biography. For example, the 1972 song "Sail Away" is written as a slave trader's sales pitch to attract slaves, while the narrator of "Political Science" is a U.S. nationalist who complains of worldwide ingratitude toward America and proposes a brutally ironic final solution. One of his biggest hits, "Short People" was written from the perspective of "a lunatic" who hates short people. Since the 1980s, Newman has worked mostly as a film composer. His film scores include Ragtime, Awakenings, The Natural, Leatherheads, James and the Giant Peach, Meet the Parents, Seabiscuit and The Princess and the Frog. He has scored many Disney-Pixar films: Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters, Inc., Cars, Toy Story 3, Monsters University, Cars 3 and most recently Toy Story 4.

He has been awarded an Academy Award, three Emmys, four Grammy Awards, and the Governor's Award from the Recording Academy. Newman was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2002. In 2007, Newman was inducted as a Disney Legend.

Newman grew up in a musical family with Hollywood connections; his uncles Alfred and Lionel both scored numerous films. By age 17, Randy was staff writer for a California music publisher. One semester short of a B.A. in music from UCLA, he dropped out of school. Lenny Waronker, son of Liberty Records’ president, was a close friend and, later, as a staff producer for Warner Bros., helped get Newman signed to the label.

Newman’s early songs were recorded by a number of performers. His friend Harry Nilsson recorded an entire album with Newman on piano, Nilsson Sings Newman, in 1970. Judy Collins (“I Think It’s Going to Rain Today”), Peggy Lee (“Love Story”), and Three Dog Night - for whom “Mama Told Me (Not to Come)” hit #1 - all enjoyed success with Newman’s music.

Newman became a popular campus attraction when touring with Nilsson. His status as a cult star was affirmed by his critically praised debut, Randy Newman, in 1968, which featured his own complex arrangements for full orchestra, and later by 1970’s 12 Songs. He also sang “Gone Dead Train” on the soundtrack of Performance (1970). Live and Sail Away were Newman’s first commercial successes, but his audience has been limited to some degree because his songs are often colored by his ironic, pointed sense of humor, which is rarely simple and frequently misunderstood.

Good Old Boys, for example, was a concept album about the South, with the lyrics expressing the viewpoint of white Southerners. Lyrics such as “We’re rednecks, and we don’t know our ass from a hole in the ground” made people wonder whether Newman was being satirical or sympathetic. He toured (to Atlanta and elsewhere) behind the album with a full orchestra that played his arrangements and was conducted by his uncle Emil Newman.

Little Criminals, in 1977, contained Newman’s first hit single, “Short People,” which mocked bigotry and was taken seriously by a vocal offended minority. “Baltimore” from that album was covered by Nina Simone. Following that album’s release, Newman toured for the first time since 1974. He claimed that in the interim he’d done nothing but watch television and play with his three sons. In 1979 his Born Again featured guest vocals by members of the Eagles. In 1981 Newman composed the soundtrack for the film Ragtime (the first of many soundtrack assignments) and was nominated for two Oscars (Best Song, Best Score). His 1983 album, Trouble in Paradise, included guest appearances by Linda Ronstadt, members of Fleetwood Mac, and Paul Simon, who sang a verse of “The Blues.” That album’s “I Love L.A.” became something of an anthem, thanks in part to a flashy music video directed by Newman’s cousin, Tim Newman (who went on to shoot popular videos for ZZ Top, among others). Land of Dreams (#80, 1988) spawned a minor hit in “It’s Money That Matters” (#60, 1988). It would take Newman 10 more years to make another studio album, 1999’s critically acclaimed Bad Love. With that record peaking at #194, he continues to meet his biggest success in Hollywood, where he spent most of the ’90s becoming one of the town’s most sought-after film composers. Although the material on his own records is literate and biting, the songs he writes for movies are decidedly simpler and with a sunnier outlook - and they usually meet with more success. Both “I Love to See You Smile” from Parenthood and “When She Loved Me” from Toy Story 2, for instance, were nominated for Oscars; in 1998 alone, Newman garnered three Oscar nominations for three different movies.

In 1995 Newman wrote a musical adaptation of Goethe’s Faust. Both the play and the accompanying CD (which featured guests such as Bonnie Raitt, Linda Ronstadt, Elton John, Don Henley, and James Taylor in the role of God) were commercially unsuccessful. In 2000 he received the Billboard Century Award.

Remember
Randy Newman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Long ago,
Far away,
Life was clear;
Close your eyes
"Remember,"
Is a place from long ago;
"Remember",
Filled with ev'rything you know.

Remember,
When you're sad and feeling down;
Remember,
Turn around.
Remember,
Life is just a memory.
Remember,
Close your eyes and you can see.
Remember,
Think of all that life can be;
Remember.
Dream,
Love is only in a dream;
Remember.
Remember,
Life is never as it seems;
Dream
Dream,
Love is only in a dream;
Remember.
Remember,
Life is never as it seems;
Dream
Long ago,
Far away,

Life was clear;
Close your eyes

Overall Meaning

Randy Newman's song Remember is a nostalgic and introspective rumination on the remembrances of a far-gone, simpler time. The first lines of the song reminisce about an idyllic past where life was lucid and certain. There is a sense of wistful longing for a place that once was but no longer exists, an almost utopian past that can't be reclaimed. The repeated refrain of "Remember" is an invitation to the listener to reflect on their own personal memories and remember a simpler time when they were happy, carefree, and unburdened by the harsher realities of life. The message of the song is not to get bogged down by the difficulties of the present or the future, but to always remember that life can be simple and beautiful.

The lyrics also touch on the idea of love and dreams. "Love is only in a dream" evokes the idea of an idealized, perfect love that one can only find in their imagination. The message here could be that we should cherish the love that we do find in real life, imperfections and all, rather than always dreaming of something better. The repeated use of the word "Dream" along with the sense of longing and nostalgia in the song suggests that the past is long gone and can never be revisited or improved upon.

Line by Line Meaning

Long ago,
Once upon a time,

Far away,
In a distant place,

Life was clear;
Everything was easy to understand,

Close your eyes
Shut your eyes,

"Remember,"
"Recall,"

Is a place from long ago;
It's a location rooted in the past,

"Remember",
"Think back,",

Filled with ev'rything you know.
Containing all you learned.

Remember,
Keep in mind,

When you're sad and feeling down;
Feeling blue and low,

Remember,
Recall,