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."
Thrust
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Constellations everywhere now - Creep, babe, creep your
Life's a suicide and I said "I'm gonna ride it" She don't care
Now -Yeah! Maybe - the night ride gonna bleed - Yeah!
Maybe - this is what ch'all need! Sink'n deep into your
Destination dig the demolition everywhere, now - Creep,
Babe, creep into your ring 'o' fire - Burned out on the
Gonna bleed - Yeah! Maybe - this is what ch'all need! Open
The darkness an hour later to the minute (moment) move
Under the guilty she went deep into the corner - Snap dog
City hypnotize and break the mercury - Rig test - Oil inject
Freak hallucination - Shot through the backdoor buzz a
Whirling locomotion West straight to another Through
The sea of love - Life on the line - Still in time - You will find
"She has gone away." Don't ask why - super sky - live or
Die "She has gone away." Figure this - no more, sis - Spanish
Kiss. "She has gone away." Thrust
Into a diamond generation -
Dexceleration everywhere - Up from
Hell a missile to the moon and zero
To the 3 and 4 and 5 and Yeah! Maybe
The night ride gonna bleed - Yeah!
Maybe - this is what y'all need! How
Fast can you really move me Come
On, come on, come on, come on, yeah!
A ritual electro-nation - yow!!
The lyrics of Thomas Newman's song "Thrust" describe an intense and chaotic experience of riding through life, where the singer seems to be seeking thrills through danger and destruction. The first two lines bring forth the metaphor of a wing-shaped vehicle to convey an idea of limitless potential, followed by a mention of constellations, reminding us of the vast and mysterious universe. The line "Life's a suicide and I said 'I'm gonna ride it'" reveals a nihilistic attitude towards existence, where the singer seems to be accepting the absurdity of life and embracing it in their own way. The repeated phrase "She don't care" adds a sense of detachment and indifference to the whole experience, as if the experiences and risks taken in life have little consequence to the singer.
As the song progresses, the lyrics become more surreal and cryptic, with references to hypnotism, hallucinations, and oil injections. The line "Sinkin' deep into your destination dig the demolition everywhere" probably refers to embracing one's fate and surrendering to the chaos of life, while "ring 'o' fire" might refer to the experience of being trapped in a cycle of destruction and rebirth. The refrain of "Maybe - this is what ch'all need!" could be interpreted as the singer trying to convince themselves that the danger and chaos they are pursuing is necessary and fulfilling.
The last verse repeats the phrase "She has gone away" several times, creating a sense of loss and emptiness. The final lines, "A ritual electro-nation - yow!!" could be seen as a celebration of the chaotic experience of life, a fusion of spirituality and technology.
Line by Line Meaning
Thrust in deep there are no limitations - Wing shaped
Pushing forward with determination, unbounded by any restrictions or obstacles, like the grace of a bird in flight
Constellations everywhere now - Creep, babe, creep your
A feeling of being lost in the vastness of the universe, urging us to crawl slowly and cautiously towards our goal
Life's a suicide and I said "I'm gonna ride it" She don't care Now -Yeah! Maybe - the night ride gonna bleed - Yeah!
Acknowledging that life can be dangerous and self-destructive, but still choosing to embrace it fully, without fear or hesitation, even though it may lead to pain and suffering
Maybe - this is what ch'all need! Sink'n deep into your Destination dig the demolition everywhere, now - Creep, Babe, creep into your ring 'o' fire - Burned out on the Wire - She don't care, now - Yeah! Maybe - the night ride
Perhaps this is what we all require - to let go of our inhibitions and allow ourselves to be consumed by our passions, even if it means descending into chaos and destruction. We must proceed with caution, however, as we may get burned out and abandoned by those who once supported us
Gonna bleed - Yeah! Maybe - this is what ch'all need! Open The darkness an hour later to the minute (moment) move Under the guilty she went deep into the corner - Snap dog City hypnotize and break the mercury - Rig test - Oil inject
We must face our fears and embrace the unknown, whoever and wherever it may bring us. Letting go of our guilt and insecurities, we must plunge into the depths of our souls, like a scientist conducting an experiment, in search of truth and enlightenment
Freak hallucination - Shot through the backdoor buzz a Whirling locomotion West straight to another Through The sea of love - Life on the line - Still in time - You will find "She has gone away." Don't ask why - super sky - live or Die "She has gone away." Figure this - no more, sis - Spanish Kiss. "She has gone away." Thrust
Hallucinations and strange experiences may occur as we travel through life's journey, but we must keep moving forward, even if it means leaving behind loved ones and familiar ways. We cannot always explain or rationalize our actions, but we must trust our instincts and have faith in our destiny
Into a diamond generation - Dexceleration everywhere - Up from Hell a missile to the moon and zero To the 3 and 4 and 5 and Yeah! Maybe The night ride gonna bleed - Yeah! Maybe - this is what y'all need!
We are part of a new, precious era, where everything seems to be slowing down and falling apart. We must launch ourselves into the unknown, like a rocket hurtling towards the moon, even though we may be unsure of what lies ahead
How Fast can you really move me Come On, come on, come on, come on, yeah! A ritual electro-nation - yow!!
We must challenge ourselves to move faster and further, to break out of our comfort zones and try new things. We must embrace the power of technology and electricity, using it to elevate and transform ourselves
Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: IVAN PETER DE PRUME, JAY NOEL YUENGER, ROB ZOMBIE, ROB WOLFGANG ZOMBIE, SHAUNA YSEULT REYNOLDS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind