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."
Crying in the Chapel
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
The tears I shed were tears of joy
I know the meaning of contentment
I am happy with the Lord
Just a plain and simple chapel
Where all good people go to pray
I prayed the Lord that I'll grow stronger
I searched and I searched but I couldn't find
No way on earth to find peace of mind
Now I'm happy in the chapel
Where people are of one accord
Yes, we gather in the chapel
Just to sing and praise the Lord
You'll search and you'll search but you'll never find
No way on earth to find peace of mind
Take your troubles to the chapel
Get down on your knees and pray
Then your burdens will be lighter
And you'll surely find a way
The song "Crying in the Chapel" by Thomas Newman has been covered by various artists over the years, but the original lyrics and message remain the same. The opening lyrics describe the singer crying in a chapel, which could be a metaphor for a person seeking solace and comfort in a religious setting. The tears shed, however, are tears of joy, suggesting that the singer has found the contentment and happiness they seek through their connection with God. This conveys the idea that people can find comfort and peace in the house of God, which is further described as a plain and simple chapel where good people go to pray.
In the second verse, the singer talks about how they prayed to the Lord to grow stronger as they live from day today. This suggests that they have faith that God will help them through life's struggles and challenges. The third verse conveys the message that one can search endlessly for peace of mind, but it can only be found through a connection to a higher power. The final verse advises listeners to take their troubles to the chapel, get down on their knees, and pray, suggesting that seeking solace and comfort in a religious setting can alleviate one's burdens and help them find a way forward.
Line by Line Meaning
You saw me crying in the chapel
Someone observed me weeping in the house of worship.
The tears I shed were tears of joy
I shed tears of happiness, not sadness.
I know the meaning of contentment
I am aware of the significance of satisfaction.
I am happy with the Lord
I am pleased with God.
Just a plain and simple chapel
It's just a basic and unadorned place of worship.
Where all good people go to pray
It's a spot where all decent individuals congregate to pray.
I prayed the Lord that I'll grow stronger
I made a request to God, asking to grow stronger.
As I live from day to day
As I pass through each day of my life.
I searched and I searched but I couldn't find
I explored and examined, but I could not locate.
No way on earth to find peace of mind
It's impossible to locate tranquility of mind on this earth.
Now I'm happy in the chapel
Currently, I am elated while in the house of worship.
Where people are of one accord
Here is where united people can be found.
Yes, we gather in the chapel
Certainly, we assemble in the house of worship.
Just to sing and praise the Lord
For the sole purpose of singing and expressing adoration for God.
You'll search and you'll search but you'll never find
You'll hunt and look, but you won't ever locate it.
No way on earth to find peace of mind
It's impossible to locate tranquility of mind on this earth.
Take your troubles to the chapel
Transport your problems to the house of worship.
Get down on your knees and pray
Kneel and offer a prayer.
Then your burdens will be lighter
Subsequently, your worries will be less of a burden.
And you'll surely find a way
And you will undoubtedly find a solution.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, RALEIGH MUSIC PUBLISHING
Written by: Artie Glenn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@MeBeTheDB
You nailed that one, amigo. Bravo.
Such music takes us to our 'Moments' ... the great ones, the not so good ones --
-- and of course, to the 'Moments' that will forever haunt us ... be they of heartache, un-fixable regrets or a love lost. His is music you listen to when you're in need of a good think.
But then, one can always find a bright horizon of redemption in a boiling sky of conflict with Thomas Newman's wondrous music.
D.A.
ps: Colin Watt -- there's a book by the late, great William Goldman called, 'THE COLOR OF LIGHT' and I think you might dig it. Please let me know what you think of it and especially, the last line of the book. You'll understand then as to 'why' you should read it.
@georgemartinez9084
To every father that is not perfect but loves his children and is willing to give them a better life.
@Buckblacket
Willing is the wrong word, it should be striving and that is the minimum requirement of all fathers!
@jonastronaut2942
To the McRib as well. Moment of silence.
@JmanB71
This helped me when I was in my darkest days, after I lost my brother❤️ driving around, hoping to see you somewhere, some signs, just something. But you are gone. Love you forever my Brother. God bless❤️
@mathieumalenfer2581
Hi i'am french, i understand you i lost my brother too 8 years ago, i see him all the time in my Dreams, i hope so much there is one heaven to see him after i quit this life on earth, god bless your brother and mine, sorry for my bad english
@JmanB71
@Mathieu Malenfer ❤️
@eddierobles2137
@Mathieu Malenfer you will meet your brother someday . We will all return to our maker . God bless you
@KYExtemper
This movie never gets the respect it deserves. It should've been nominated for Best Picture.
@hudsonthecozy
Amen. It's bafflingly underrated.
@KrishnaSingh-yt3rq
Sure..I agree