Newman has been nominated for 15 Academy Awards and 4 Golden Globes, and has won 2 BAFTAs, 6 Grammys and an Emmy Award. Newman was honored with the Richard Kirk award at the 2000 BMI Film and TV Awards. The award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to film and television music.
Born in Los Angeles, California, he is the youngest son of Martha Louis Montgomery (1920–2005) and composer Alfred Newman (1900–1970), who won the Academy Award for Best Original Score nine times. He is a member of a film-scoring dynasty in Hollywood that includes his father Alfred, brother David Newman, sister Maria Newman, uncles Lionel Newman and Emil Newman, cousin Randy Newman (also known as a singer and songwriter), and his first cousin, once removed, Joey Newman. His paternal grandparents were Russian immigrants, and his mother was from Mississippi.
During their upbringing, Martha herded her sons into violin lessons in the San Fernando Valley every weekend. Newman later studied composition and orchestration for two years at the University of Southern California, before transferring to Yale University, where he graduated as a Bachelor of Arts in 1977 and a Master of Music in 1978. While at Yale, he met composer Stephen Sondheim, who became an early mentor.
Newman and his wife, Ann Marie, have three children. They reside in the Pacific Palisades neighborhood of Los Angeles.
At first, Newman was more interested in musical theater than in film composition, working with Sondheim in Broadway plays. Lionel, who succeeded Alfred as music director for 20th Century Fox, gave Thomas his first scoring assignment on a 1979 episode of the series The Paper Chase. In 1983, John Williams, who was a friend of both Alfred and Lionel, invited Newman to work on Return of the Jedi, orchestrating the scene where Darth Vader dies. Afterwards Newman met in New York producer Scott Rudin, who invited him to compose the score for Reckless (1984). Newman said that he thought "it was a tough job, at first" for requiring him to "develop vocabularies and a sense of procedure", only getting comfortable with writing scores "and not fraudulent in my efforts" after 8 years.
In 1992, Newman composed the score to Martin Brest's film Scent of a Woman.
In 1994, he got his first Academy Award nominations with the scores to The Shawshank Redemption and Little Women. He also scored the film The War. In 1996, he scored Diane Keaton's Unstrung Heroes, receiving yet another Oscar nomination. In 1998, he scored Robert Redford's The Horse Whisperer as well as Meet Joe Black. In 1999, Newman composed the score to Sam Mendes' first feature film American Beauty, created using mainly percussion instruments. Newman believed the score helped move the film along without disturbing the "moral ambiguity" of the script, saying "It was a real delicate balancing act in terms of what music worked to preserve that." This was his first collaboration with Mendes, and he would go on to score all of the director's subsequent films except for the comedy-drama Away We Go, which featured songs instead of a score. He received a fourth Oscar nomination for this score, and although he lost again (to John Corigliano for The Red Violin), he did receive a Grammy and a BAFTA.
His critical and commercial success has continued in the following years with his scores for films such as Meet Joe Black, The Green Mile, Erin Brockovich, In the Bedroom and The Salton Sea. He was nominated consecutively for a further three Academy Awards, for Road to Perdition (2002), Finding Nemo (2003), and Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events (2004). However, he lost on each occasion to Elliot Goldenthal (for Frida), Howard Shore (for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King), and Jan A. P. Kaczmarek (for Finding Neverland) respectively.
He was again nominated for an Oscar for scoring Steven Soderbergh's The Good German (2006). At the Oscar ceremony, he appeared in the opening segment by Errol Morris, who jokingly stated that Newman had been nominated for and failed to win an Oscar eight times. Newman replied: "No, I've failed seven but this will be my eighth", and indeed, he again lost, this time to Gustavo Santaolalla for Babel.
His first score since The Good German was for the 2008 animated film WALL-E, collaborating for the second time with director Andrew Stanton (with the first collaboration being Finding Nemo). The film won the Academy Award for Best Animated Feature (as had Nemo). Newman received two Oscar nominations: one for Best Original Score, and another for Best Original Song for "Down to Earth", which he co-wrote with Peter Gabriel. He was nominated in the Original Score category with two other veteran composers, James Newton-Howard and Danny Elfman, both of whom have also been nominated for several Oscars but each time unsuccessfully. Newman lost both the score and song nominations to A R Rahman for his work on Slumdog Millionaire. He and Peter Gabriel did however win a Grammy for "Down to Earth".
In 2008, Newman scored Towelhead and Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road and in 2009 he scored Brothers. In 2011 he scored The Help, The Debt, The Iron Lady, and The Adjustment Bureau.
In 2012, Newman scored The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. He also scored the 23rd James Bond movie Skyfall, directed by his longtime collaborator Sam Mendes, which celebrates the film franchise's 50th anniversary. His work on this film earned him his eleventh Oscar nomination and a second BAFTA win. During 2013, he scored Steven Soderbergh's Side Effects and Saving Mr. Banks. The latter score was very well received by film music critics, earning Newman BAFTA and Oscar nominations for the second consecutive year, both of which he lost to Steven Price for Gravity.
Newman's 2014 projects included The Judge and Get on Up. He scored 2015's The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, marking the first time Newman has scored a sequel to a film he also wrote the score for.
In 2016, Newman scored the motion picture Passengers starring Andy Garcia, Michael Sheen, Laurence Fishburne, Jennifer Lawrence and Chris Pratt.
Newman likes to vary the instrumentation in his scores, ranging from full orchestra to percussion-only music. He is also fond of incorporating unusual instruments such as the zither, hurdy-gurdy, psaltery and hammered dulcimer, or unexpected sounds, like Aboriginal chants and the chirping of cicadas. The composer declared that he has "an interest in mundane experimentation."
Bang A Gong
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Don't look back and I love you
You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah
Well you're slim and you're weak
You've got the teeth of a hydra upon you
You're dirty sweet and you're my girl
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
You're built like a car,
You've got a hub cap diamond star halo
You're built like a car, oh yeah
You're an untamed youth that's the truth
With your cloak full of eagles
You're dirty sweet and you're my girl
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
You're windy and wild,
You've got the blues in your shoes and your stockings
You're windy and wild, oh yeah
You're built like a car,
You've got a hub cap diamond star halo
You're dirty sweet and you're my girl
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
You're dirty and sweet,
Clad in black, don't look back and I love you
You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah
You dance when you walk so let's dance,
Take a chance, understand me
You're dirty sweet and you're my girl
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Take me
For a meanwhile I'm still thinking
The lyrics to Thomas Newman's song "Bang A Gong" are an ode to the singer's lover, whom he describes as "dirty and sweet, clad in black." The singer is clearly enamored by this person, despite their flaws, as evidenced by the repeating line "You're dirty sweet and you're my girl." The lyrics paint a picture of a wild and untamed youth, with blues in their shoes and stockings, who dances when they walk. The imagery of being "built like a car" and having a "hub cap diamond star halo" adds to the mystique of this person. They're alluring, and the singer desires them deeply.
The chorus, "Get it on, bang the gong, get it on," is a repetitive call to action. It's a plea to follow through with their desires and make something happen. The singer wants to dance with this person and take a chance on them. They're urging them to let down their guard and take a chance on love.
Overall, the lyrics to "Bang A Gong" are a celebration of youthful passion and desire. The singer is taken with the untamed spirit of their lover, and they want to indulge in that wildness. The song's upbeat tempo and catchy melody reflect the urgency of the singer's desires, and the chorus serves as an almost primal call to action.
Line by Line Meaning
Well you're dirty and sweet, clad in black
You have a certain rawness and sensuality to you, dressed in black.
Don't look back and I love you
Your carefree attitude is attractive and intriguing to me.
You're dirty and sweet, oh yeah
You're a bit rough around the edges, but it only adds to your charm.
Well you're slim and you're weak
Physically, you may be fragile, but I am still drawn to you.
You've got the teeth of a hydra upon you
You may have something menacing about you, but I find it alluring.
You're dirty sweet and you're my girl
You may be unconventional, but I feel a connection with you that goes beyond the norm.
Get it on, bang the gong, get it on
Let's not waste any time, let's get into it and experience something intense and exciting.
You're built like a car,
Your physique is powerful and well-formed, resembling that of an automobile.
You've got a hub cap diamond star halo
There is something special and glamorous about you, like the hub cap of a fancy car.
You're an untamed youth that's the truth
Your youthful energy and freedom is untamed, and that is what makes you so captivating to me.
With your cloak full of eagles
Your commanding presence and confidence is like a cloak adorned with eagles, emblematic of your power.
You're windy and wild,
You have a carefree and unpredictable nature to you, like the wind.
You've got the blues in your shoes and your stockings
You may be a bit sad or melancholic, but you still have an undeniable charm.
You dance when you walk so let's dance,
Your movement is rhythmic and graceful, let's celebrate and move together.
Take a chance, understand me
Take a risk on me, get to know me better and you won't regret it.
Get it on
Let's do it.
Take me
I am ready and willing to be with you.
For a meanwhile I'm still thinking
I am still considering the possibilities, but my interest is piqued.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
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