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."
Unforgettable
Thomas Newman Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That's what you are
Unforgettable
Tho' near or far
Like a song of love that clings to me
How the thought of you does things to me
Never before
Unforgettable
In every way
And forever more
That's how you'll stay
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am
Unforgettable, too
Unforgettable
In every way, oh, oh, oh
And forever more
That's how you'll stay, oh, oh, oh, yeah
That's why, darling, it's incredible
That someone so unforgettable
Thinks that I am
Unforgettable, too
The lyrics of Thomas Newman's "Unforgettable" describe the emotions of one person towards another. The singer describes the subject of the song as "unforgettable" and notes that they have never felt this way before about someone. The singer compares the subject's impact on their life to that of a love song, stating that just the thought of the subject does things to them. The subject is described as being unforgettable in every way, and the singer notes that they will always stay that way.
The singer is amazed that someone so unforgettable sees them in the same light. They note that it is "incredible" that the subject feels the same way about them, and that they too are unforgettable. The song conveys a sense of awe and amazement towards the subject of the song, and celebrates the strong emotions that they inspire in the singer. The lyrics are passionate and emotional, conveying a deep connection between the two people.
Line by Line Meaning
Unforgettable
The person being described is memorable and exceptional.
That's what you are
This line reinforces that the person being described is unforgettable, and hammers the message home even harder.
Unforgettable, Tho' near or far
The person being described is unforgettable no matter the distance or circumstances of the relationship.
Like a song of love that clings to me
The person being described affects the artist in a similar way to a love song. They can’t stop thinking about them and they are always on their mind.
How the thought of you does things to me
Even just thinking about the person being described can have a powerful effect on the artist, potentially invoking strong emotions and memories.
Never before, Has someone been more Unforgettable
This person is so unforgettable that the singer has never come across anyone like them before. They are truly unique and special.
In every way
The person being described is exceptional in every aspect - physically, mentally, and emotionally.
And forever more, That's how you'll stay
This person's unforgettable nature will last a lifetime, and they will continue to hold a special place in the artist’s heart forever.
That's why, darling, it's incredible
The fact that the artist is in a relationship with such an unforgettable person is incredible, and they feel very lucky and grateful.
That someone so unforgettable, Thinks that I am Unforgettable, too
The fact that the person being described also thinks the artist is unforgettable is an amazing feeling, and shows that they have a strong and meaningful connection.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: Irving Gordon
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
CrazyGachaTuber
WOW I LOVE THIS SONG!!!!!!!!!