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."
Did You Ever See a Dream Walking
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Well, I did.
Did you ever hear a dream talking?
Well, I did.
Did you have a dream thrill you
With "Will you be mine?"
Oh, it's so grand,
Did you ever see a dream dancing?
Well, I did.
Did a ever see a dream romancing?
Well, I did!
Did you see heaven right in your arms,
Saying, "I love you, I do!"
Well, the dream that was walking,
And the dream that was talking,
The heaven in my arms was you.
The lyrics in Thomas Newman's song, "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking," showcase the fantastical nature of dreams and the emotional impact they can have on individuals. The writer uses rhetorical questions to prompt the audience to consider their own personal experiences with dreams. The first two lines, "Did you ever see a dream walking? Well, I did. Did you ever hear a dream talking? Well, I did," immediately situates the listener in the same position as the songwriter. As the lyrics progress, the audience becomes witness to the effect the dream has on the dreamer.
The dream that the songwriter describes is one of love and romantic desire. The question "Did you have a dream thrill you with 'Will you be mine?'" suggests that the dreamer is seeking validation and affection from a specific person. The following lines, "Oh, it's so grand, and it's too, too divine!" emphasizes the positive emotions the dreamer is feeling in this moment. The audience can assume that this dream has provided the individual with a sense of fulfillment that they may not have experienced while awake.
The last two stanzas of the song evoke the surrealism present in many dreams. The question "Did you ever see a dream dancing? Well, I did. Did a ever see a dream romancing? Well, I did!" showcases the dreamer's sensory experience while dreaming. They have witnessed a dream that is alive and in motion, adding to the magical feeling of the lyrics. The final lines of the song, "Well, the dream that was walking, and the dream that was talking, the heaven in my arms was you," reveal that the dreamer's ultimate desire has been fulfilled - the love interest depicted in their dream is happily in their arms. The language used in these closing lines is particularly arresting, utilizing biblical and spiritual language to convey the significance of this moment on the dreamer.
Overall, Thomas Newman's "Did You Ever See a Dream Walking" is an ode to the transformative power of dreams, particularly those of romantic nature. The lyrics suggest that dreaming has the power to awaken our most intense desires and provide an emotional fulfillment that can be difficult to achieve while awake. This song can resonate with individuals who have also experienced the poignancy of a powerful dream.
Line by Line Meaning
Did you ever see a dream walking?
Have you ever had a dream that seemed to come to life?
Well, I did.
I have experienced such a dream.
Did you ever hear a dream talking?
Have you ever had a dream where the characters spoke as if it were real life?
Well, I did.
I have had such a dream.
Did you have a dream thrill you
With "Will you be mine?"
Have you ever had a dream where someone you desire asks you to be with them?
Oh, it's so grand,
And it's too, too divine!
It feels amazing and too good to be true.
Did you ever see a dream dancing?
Have you ever had a dream where people or things were dancing?
Well, I did.
I have had such a dream.
Did a ever see a dream romancing?
Have you ever had a dream where people or things were romantic with each other?
Well, I did!
I have had such a dream.
Did you see heaven right in your arms,
Saying, "I love you, I do!"
Did you ever have the feeling of holding something or someone so precious that it felt like you had a piece of heaven with you, validating their deep affection for you?
Well, the dream that was walking,
And the dream that was talking,
The heaven in my arms was you.
The people in my dreams were actually representing someone I loved and held so dearly, to the point where it felt like I was holding a piece of heaven in my arms, and that person was you.
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: MACK GORDON, HARRY REVEL
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Acedia Tristitia
I take this scene and this film to mean: don't be Atlas, don't carry the weight of the world on your shoulders, instead, let the world carry your weight.
The universe, the world and all the people and things in it are collectively, infinitely more mysterious and powerful than us.
We can't push life around, but when we surrender, we realize we never had to, the world is fundamentally for us, in spite of all the pain and suffering, even because of it, there is beauty, and that's how we can find beauty, even in lowly places, by changing our perspective.
If the world were essentially hostile, we wouldn't be here at all.
You can't swim against the current, so go with it.
Man can build dams, attempt to change the course and direction of things, but ultimately, nature, the passage of time, birth, growth, death and decay, will prevail. Adversity makes life precious, challenges help us grow and give birth, the ultimate challenge is figuring out challenges themselves are not our enemies, but our friends.
The bag represents you.
The wind represents nature.
The bag is not as autonomous as it thinks it is, it's animation is dependent on the wind, and yet, being dependent is a beautiful thing.
You can't control the sun, you can't control the wind and the rain, or the millions of transactions going on around between nature and man, and man and man, and yet, all these things support us.
Of course that doesn't mean we don't have to do anything to support ourselves and others, we have a part to play in it, but our role is much smaller than we tend to think.
Electize
Ridicule or hate this scene all you want..
- Call it overly pretentious, artistically overrated, nauseatingly sentimental or just plain cringeworthy.. which couldn't be further from the truth.
Honestly to me this scene is a masterpiece. Plain and simple - It emphasizes the beauty in even the most mundane or otherwise most insignificant of things. Great script, solid acting and a legendary soundtrack to boot.
I always get goosebumps and very emotional watching this scene..
This scene (and movie for that matter) have become a part of popular culture for a reason..
- We often take the small, everyday things for granted, the hidden beauty that surrounds us in an otherwise unforgiving and cynical world.
As cheesy as it may sound we should way more often pause and reflect on the beauty of the world that we live in.
SnomoSam
I've watched this scene so many times in the past without actually watching the movie itself.
Tonight that changed. I've just finished the movie and it's even better than I could've imagined. And I'm just totally fascinated by Ricky (not so much him filming a dead homeless person), but more his perspective. I can just watch this scene and I feel... calm. A complete sense of wonder. And I think it's largely due to Wes Bentley's voice and the way he expresses such a profound message with such a tender approach.
I imagine some people watch this and think '...it's a plastic bag'. And I often feel shame for connecting with this. Embarrassment. But everything about this just screams beauty to me. I feel like we've become so desensitized to small wonders like these. I feel the same way with the stars too. I hope one day I can find similar-minded people who value beauty above material things. God, I hope I do.
Phil Wright
🤗🖐
P A
@Aliya F It's all in your mind. Noting can stop you from dancing your dance. Good luck! I'm rooting for you, Aliya.
P A
@Daniel Fdo Valderrama Love you, brother.
P A
@patapuss 32 Don't caught up in things. Life is so much richer if you keep an open mind and have a willing heart.
P A
One of those people you're looking for reporting in.
Hello, friend.
Enjoy what's there in front of you. There's beauty everywhere even in the empty places and moments.
Charles P.
A scene, that to me, emphasizes the beauty of all things (yes even the horrible) in this incredible journey we all find ourselves in, a journey called life.
This scene says so much more than it shows.
cantuse
Always amazes me how people fail to appreciate this scene given the context. It's not saying that the world is beautiful, or the bag is beautiful, or that life has special meaning. If there's anything its definitively saying... its showing us that a boy who was raised by a distant, abusive father still sees meaning and beauty in the world, even in the smallest of things... perhaps to the point of being odd. He's not trying to convince Thora Birch's character or the audience... he's confessing and sharing his truth.
Nanashi
@ironstape you have no clue what pretentious is then lol
P A
I love what you said!