Sondheim / Elfman
I’ve been listening to a ton of Sondheim lately, and I keep finding major connections to Danny Elfman's music. Am I crazy? What other patterns do they have in common? Also, did they ever actually meet or cross paths, maybe around the time of Sweeney Todd?
Harmonically...
The Patter Song. Sondheim gives us “Franklin Shepard, Inc.” — a guy drowning himself alive in a torrent of words, faster and faster, syllables stacking like dominoes, no room to breathe. Elfman gives us “Making Christmas” — same rapid-fire listing machine, tiny rhythmic cells piling up (the Pentatonix reprise, excellente, by the way). Same job: turn panic or excitement into a machine gun of syllables. Patter song, it’s not a style. It’s a FUNCTION.
Sondheim: https://youtu.be/2FZ0CeEIYu4?si=9L7LUWS9fgaQXNUd
Elfman: https://youtu.be/Th_j7RUu2vM?si=OCfGu0CSdDNjvXFl
The Melancholic Lullaby. Both, funny enough, chez Burton. “Not While I’m Around” — a kid’s promise of protection, sung soft, half-lullaby, half-threat underneath. “Sally’s Song” — same DNA, a lonely creature singing quietly to herself about a longing she can’t name yet. Same job again: sweetness with a shadow inside it. Not sad, not happy — that thing in between, where the melody stays gentle but something underneath is aching.
Sondheim: https://youtu.be/P1ci98bIAwI?si=aBvucrar7mXH1ViH
Elfman: https://youtu.be/VgL4graXGOo?si=4iFNWuzBYHt8acD3
The Theatrical Monologue. “Finishing the Hat” — an artist alone, talking-singing about the terrible thing he does instead of loving people: he MAKES. “Jack’s Lament” — same shape, a guy who’s the very best at what he does, and it means nothing to him anymore, half-confession turning into song. Same job: a character standing still while their whole interior life parades past, structure obeying the confession, not the other way around.
