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."
Swinging On A Star
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a mule?
A mule is an animal with long funny ears
Kicks up at anything he hears
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
And by the way, if you hate to go to school
You may grow up to be a mule
Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a pig?
A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
He has no manners when he eats his food
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude
But if you don't care a feather or a fig
You may grow up to be a pig
Or would you like to swing on a star?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
And be better off than you are
Or would you rather be a fish?
A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook
He can't write his name or read a book
To fool the people is his only thought
And though he's slippery, he still gets caught
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
You may grow up to be a fish
A new kind of jumped up slippery fish
And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
Every day you meet quite a few
So you see it's all up to you
You can be better than you are
You could be swingin' on a star
The lyrics of Thomas Newman's song "Swinging on a Star" speak of the desire to escape the mundane and strive for greater things. The first verse presents the option of "swinging on a star," an idyllic image of taking hold of the elusive and transcendent, and "carrying moonbeams home in a jar." This imagery symbolizes the idea of capturing something rare and beautiful and cherishing it forever. The singer then contrasts this aspiration with the image of a mule - an animal with no redeeming characteristics except for its brute strength - as a symbol of living a life without aim or aspiration. The second verse compares the possibility of living a life of joy and wonder (swinging on a star) with living as a pig - lazy, rude, and revolting. Finally, the third verse compares the choices in life to being a fish. While they may be slippery and elusive, their existence is essentially meaningless, as they simply swim around, living a largely uneventful life.
The message of the song ultimately boils down to the idea that life is whatever one makes of it. It is totally up to the individual whether they aim for the stars or wallow in the mud. The refrain of the song reiterates the choice, emphasizing that nobody else can make that decision for us, as we can "be better than we are" and "swing on a star."
Line by Line Meaning
Would you like to swing on a star?
Would you like to have grand aspirations and imagination?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
To capture wonder and amazement in jars and bring it home with you.
And be better off than you are
To strive and succeed beyond your current state of being.
Or would you rather be a mule?
Would you rather be simple and stubborn?
A mule is an animal with long funny ears
A mule is defined by its peculiar physical traits.
Kicks up at anything he hears
Takes offense easily and acts on impulses.
His back is brawny but his brain is weak
Physically strong, but mentally limited.
He's just plain stupid with a stubborn streak
Dumb and stubborn, even to its detriment.
And by the way, if you hate to go to school
The foundation for growth of knowledge and intellect is education.
You may grow up to be a mule
If you shun education and exhibit stubborn stupidity, you may possess traits similar to a mule.
Or would you like to swing on a star?
Would you prefer to aspire higher?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
To capture wonder and amazement in jars and bring it home with you.
And be better off than you are
To strive and succeed beyond your current state of being.
Or would you rather be a pig?
Do you want to be foolish and ignorant?
A pig is an animal with dirt on his face
Pigs are categorized by their slovenly appearance.
His shoes are a terrible disgrace
Even their footwear is dirty.
He has no manners when he eats his food
Eats like a slob.
He's fat and lazy and extremely rude
Absorbs whatever is around him, becoming sluggish and discourteous.
But if you don't care a feather or a fig
If you don't care about manners or appearance...
You may grow up to be a pig
...you may end up uncultured and loutish.
Or would you like to swing on a star?
Would you rather aim higher?
Carry moonbeams home in a jar
To capture wonder and amazement in jars and bring it home with you.
And be better off than you are
To strive and succeed beyond your current state of being.
Or would you rather be a fish?
Would you rather deceive and have no ambition?
A fish won't do anything, but swim in a brook
Fish are defined by their aquatic nature and constrained behavior.
He can't write his name or read a book
Lacks essential skills and knowledge.
To fool the people is his only thought
Manipulation and deception are primary motives.
And though he's slippery, he still gets caught
Even the best deceivers are discovered and held accountable eventually.
But then if that sort of life is what you wish
If you aspire to live a dishonest and unproductive life...
You may grow up to be a fish
...you may end up like these seemingly banal creatures who lack foresight and direction.
A new kind of jumped up slippery fish
Although clever and calculated in their manipulation, these people will be exposed eventually.
And all the monkeys aren't in the zoo
There are many foolish and unreasonable people in society.
Every day you meet quite a few
These people are ubiquitous, growing more numerous as time passes.
So you see it's all up to you
The future is yours to create and shape.
You can be better than you are
You have the potential for greatness.
You could be swingin' on a star
You could aim high and achieve great things, capturing wonder and amazement along the way.
Lyrics © O/B/O APRA/AMCOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@nashvilletennessee3194
That's young Andy Williams singing the high part with his three brothers on the background vocals!