History Music / RandyNewman

* ArtisticLicenseHistory: "In Germany Before the War" is about serial killer Peter Kurten. However, it says he killed in 1934. By then however Kurten was dead, executed for murder. He actually committed most of the murders in 1929. His execution took place in 1931. This was probably done because it rhymed with the previous verse.

* LongRunner: Five decades of music, and still going.

* VillainSong: "Friends on the Other Side" from ''WesternAnimation/ThePrincessAndTheFrog''. Also a common trope in his non-movie work: "Kathleen" is from the perspective of a man tricking a woman into thinking they're married to get in her pants; the subtitle (Catholicism Made Easier) got Newman into a LOT of trouble.

* YouCanLeaveYourHatOn: Wrote and recorded the TropeNamer, although it was later CoveredUp by Music/JoeCocker.

* GodIsEvil: "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" by Music/RandyNewman has several verses being sung from God's perspective which show him to be quite cruel toward humans. As is typical with Newman songs though, it's not entirely clear how serious he's being (since Newman is a "devout atheist" it's possibly serious). God in the song seemingly just despises humanity ("I recoil in horror from the foulness of thee/From the squalor and the filth and the misery"), and likes that living in these conditions makes people turn to him.

Ever the innovator, Newman's was involved with the South Coast Repertory Theater's production of "The Education of Randy Newman", a musical stage play based on Newman's life set to his songs. The play, which stars Scott Waara as Newman and is directed by Myron Johnson, premiered in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles on 2 June 2000. ''The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. I'' (2003), his first effort for Nonesuch, introduces powerful new solo versions of early classics and recent gems alike. The eighteen songs are an intimate and powerful reminder of the enduring work that Newman has established. In 2008, he released ''Harps and Angels'' for Creator/NonesuchRecords. His first collection of new songs since 2009's ''Bad Love''.

* LongRunner: Four decades of music, and still going.

** "I Love L.A." Music - Fun, rock n' roll party music. Lyrics - The apathy that rich, privileged Los Angelans have towards all of it's greater problems. Not surprisingly, this is one of his only songs to get a music video... which depicts him [[MusicVideoOvershadowing happily cruising around L.A. in a Cadillac]]. He later performed the song with Music/Maroon5 when they played L.A., complete with the Laker Girls dancing with them. Perhaps he was just amused by how much everyone was missing the point?

* LyricalDissonance: One of Newman's favorite tactics. "Sail Away" is a quiet, gentle song...until you realize it's written from the perspective of a ''slave ship owner'' pitching the natives on what a great life they're going to have. "Little Criminals" seems to be a case of BadassBoast...until you realize just how much the narrator and his crew live up to the song's title.

* TakeThat: "Mr. President, Have Pity On The Working Man", probably his bitterest song. Arguably the entire score of "Faust", as well, at least to fundamentalists.

* ''Series/{{Monk}}'' (2002—2009; seasons 2—9) (song: "It's a Jungle out There")

* ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' (2009)

He has earned two more Academy Award nominations (19 total) in the Best Original Song category for [[Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog "Almost There" and "Down in New Orleans"]]. On June 2, 2010 Newman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

* VillainSong: "Friends on the Other Side" from ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog''. Also a common trope in his non-movie work: "Kathleen" is from the perspective of a man tricking a woman into thinking they're married to get in her pants; the subtitle (Catholicism Made Easier) got Newman into a LOT of trouble.

The son of the only Newman brother NOT to be a composer (his father was an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_medicine internist]]), Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman (born November 28, 1943) is arguably the most famous member of the Newman musical family headed by his uncle [[Music/AlfredNewman Alfred]], but one who's noted more for his songwriting skills than for his film music. Born in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles but raised in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, Randy was a talented pianist from an early age, and always seemed destined for a career in music, but during his formative years purposefully stayed away from Hollywood and concentrated on being a recording artist in his own right.

With his regular collaborator Lenny Waronker, Newman recorded and released many popular hit records, including "I Love L.A.", "Short People", "Political Science", "Marie", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "YouCanLeaveYourHatOn" (for which he is the TropeNamer), and the controversial "Rednecks". His solo albums (''Randy Newman, 12 Songs, Sail Away, Good Old Boys, Little Criminals, Born Again, Trouble In Paradise, Land of Dreams, Faust, Bad Love'', ''Harps and Angels'', and ''Dark Matter''), have all received critical acclaim for the way in which his sardonic, witty lyrics and totally unique vocal delivery allowed his songs to be entertaining, musically excellent, but yet remain politically and socially aware.

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory'' (1995),

* ''Film/{{Michael}}'' (1996),
* ''WesternAnimation/CatsDontDance'' (1997),
* ''WesternAnimation/ABugsLife'' (1998),

* ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory2'' (1999),

Most of these scores in the list were Oscar nominated for either the score or one of his brilliant songs. He finally won his first Oscar, in 2001, for the song 'If I Didn't Have You' from "Monsters, Inc." He won his second Oscar in 2011, for the song, "We Belong Together" from "Toy Story 3."

Ever the innovator, Newman's was involved with the South Coast Repertory Theater's production of "The Education of Randy Newman", a musical stage play based on Newman's life set to his songs. The play, which stars Scott Waara as Newman and is directed by Myron Johnson, premiered in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles on 2 June 2000. The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. I (2003), his first effort for Nonesuch, introduces powerful new solo versions of early classics and recent gems alike. The eighteen songs are an intimate and powerful reminder of the enduring work that Newman has established. In 2008 he released Harps and Angels for Creator/NonesuchRecords. His first collection of new songs since 2009’s Bad Love.

Most recently, Newman wrote the songs and score for {{Creator/Disney}}'s ''Disney/ThePrincessAndTheFrog'' as well as ''WesternAnimation/ToyStory3''. He has earned two more Academy Award nominations (19 total) in the Best Original Song category for Almost There and Down In New Orleans. On June 2nd 2010 Newman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

His career as a film composer is so varied that he has several pages dedicated to his work: His [[AwesomeMusic/{{Pixar}} scores for John Lasseter and Pixar films]], his [[AwesomeMusic/{{Disney}} amazing music in The Princess and The Frog]], and his own [[AwesomeMusic/TheNewmans works in other films]].

* PoesLaw: Newman wrote "Short People" to make fun of the mindset that discriminates against people for their appearance. He was promptly accused of being bigoted against short people. Also happened to him with "Rednecks", when people missed the satire and actually thought he was serious. Really, you'd think the line "We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground" would be a dead giveaway.
* SympathyForTheDevil: "Rednecks" actually ''was'' intended to display a back-handed sort of sympathy for southern racists, specifically speaking out against northern liberals' tendency to mock them dismissively rather than argue with them on the merits (an argument Newman obviously believed the northerners would win handily).

%% * CaptainObvious: His songs are known for being this.

* CaptainObvious: His songs are known for being this.

* OscarBait: Played straight and subverted.

Ever the innovator, Newman's was involved with the South Coast Repertory Theater's production of "The Education of Randy Newman", a musical stage play based on Newman's life set to his songs. The play, which stars Scott Waara as Newman and is directed by Myron Johnson, premiered in Costa Mesa, Los Angeles on 2 June 2000. The Randy Newman Songbook, Vol. I (2003), his first effort for Nonesuch, introduces powerful new solo versions of early classics and recent gems alike. The eighteen songs are an intimate and powerful reminder of the enduring work that Newman has established. In 2008 he released Harps and Angels; for Nonesuch records. His first collection of new songs since 2009’s Bad Love.

[[quoteright:324:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Randy_Newman.jpg]]

* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: His first minor hit as a songwriter was the fairly straightforward love song "Just One Smile" (recorded by Gene Pitney), followed by the whimsical "Simon Smith and the Amazing Dancing Bear" (The Alan Price Set), which at least foreshadowed his later animated film work.

* ''Film/{{Performance}}'' (1970)

With his regular collaborator Lenny Waronker, Newman recorded and released many popular hit records, including "I Love L.A.", "Short People", "Political Science", "Marie", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "YouCanLeaveYourHatOn" (for which he is the TropeNamer), and the controversial "Rednecks". His solo albums (''Randy Newman, Sail Away, Good Old Boys, Little Criminals, Born Again, Trouble In Paradise, Land of Dreams, Faust, Bad Love'', ''Harps and Angels'', and ''Dark Matter''), have all received critical acclaim for the way in which his sardonic, witty lyrics and totally unique vocal delivery allowed his songs to be entertaining, musically excellent, but yet remain politically and socially aware.

With his regular collaborator Lenny Waronker, Newman recorded and released many popular hit records, including "I Love L.A.", "Short People", "Political Science", "Marie", "I Think It's Going To Rain Today", "YouCanLeaveYourHatOn" (for which he is the TropeNamer), and the controversial "Rednecks". His solo albums (''Randy Newman, Sail Away, Good Old Boys, Little Criminals, Born Again, Trouble In Paradise, Land of Dreams, Faust, Bad Love'' and ''Harps and Angels''), have all received critical acclaim for the way in which his sardonic, witty lyrics and totally unique vocal delivery allowed his songs to be entertaining, musically excellent, but yet remain politically and socially aware.

* [[GodIsEvil God Is At Least A Little Sadistic]]: "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" depicts a God who is completely unsympathetic to mankind's suffering due to the atrocities we visit upon one another, and does nothing to help, while laughing over the fact they still praise him after he visits destruction on them. The refrain "That's why I love mankind" is no doubt intended facetiously, although it's possible the entire song is facetious. It may also be considered to be a ReligionRantSong.

* IsntItIronic (see below)
* LongRunner -- four decades of music, and still going.

* MyCountryTisOfTheeThatISting: "Political Science" pokes fun at the U.S.A. who are so angry that everyone seems to hate them that they decide to "drop the big one now". They will bomb the entire world, except for Australia, and "turn the entire world into one Americatown".

* PoesLaw: Newman wrote "Short People" to make fun of the mindset that discriminates against people for their appearance. He was promptly accused of being bigoted against short people. Also happened to him with "Rednecks", when people missed the satire and actually thought he was serious.
** Really, you'd think the line "We don't know our ass from a hole in the ground" would be a dead giveaway.

* [[GodIsEvil God Is At Least A Little Sadistic]]: "God's Song (That's Why I Love Mankind)" depicts a God who is completely unsympathetic to mankind's suffering due to the atrocities we visit upon one another, and does nothing to help. The refrain "That's why I love mankind" is no doubt intended facetiously, although it's possible the entire song is facetious. May also be considered to be a ReligionRantSong.

* UnpluggedVersion: ''The Randy Newman Songbook'', an ongoing series of albums where Newman, alone at the piano, plays some of his most beloved songs.

The son of the only Newman brother NOT to be a composer (his father was an [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_medicine internist]]), '''Randall Stuart "Randy" Newman''' (November 28, 1943--) is arguably the most famous of the Newman musical family, but more for his song writing skills than his film music. Born in UsefulNotes/LosAngeles but raised in UsefulNotes/NewOrleans, Randy was a talented pianist from an early age, and always seemed destined for a career in music, but during his formative years purposefully stayed away from Hollywood and concentrated on being a recording artist in his own right.