All Hail the Pumpkin King!

 I didn’t even know that Elfman himself would be singing until my friend told me just before the show started. As I watched the musicians get to their places, I couldn’t help but feel like something magical was about to happen. Live performances are always magical.

Each musical segment was introduced by the title screen, and the level of enthusiasm was determined by how well-loved the film is. For example, only a little applause for Planet of the Apes, and a HUGE applause with screaming for Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas. During the musical segments, Burton’s sketches and clips from the films played on the giant screens framing the stage.

I was feeling elated. I played viola in my high school orchestra, so I have a special love for live symphony performances. I think of the musicians and how each of them is only responsible for playing their one instrument. Yet somehow, when they all work together, they create something rich and wonderful. They create something that not a single one of them could have created on their own. At least not in real time.

I started to think that Life (with the capital L) is like the music made from a symphony. Each of us are simply responsible for playing our own unique part. Remember, many different parts are needed, we can’t all be violins. When each of us is playing our part well, we create something beautiful together.

As I journey to discover my unique part in this life, I’m inspired by this experience to be mindful of how my actions, thoughts, and beliefs make me feel.

I watch the musicians play and how gracefully their bodies move with the music. The sounds they are creating seem to almost exhale out of them. It looks like they are feeling the music. I imagine, it feels good. In fact, from my own experience, I know it feels good.

It feels alive.

And isn’t that the point of living? To feel alive? At least that’s where I’m at right now. I’ve been trying to figure out what makes me feel alive. So it was inspiring and refreshing to see so many people doing just that, living.

When Danny Elfman came to the stage, that inspired feeling jumped to a whole new level. Now mind you, I am very familiar with the songs from The Nightmare Before Christmas. But as soon as he opened his mouth and Jack’s voice came out, it was, indescribable.

He started with Jack’s Lament and everyone freaked the fuck out.

He had all of the energy and expressiveness that Jack had in the movie. He moved around the stage, he played the part well. Of course he did, it was him. Jack, the song, the voice, it was all an extension of him. As I mused over how alive and happy he looked up there, I heard this lyric:

Oh, somewhere deep inside of these bones
An emptiness began to grow
There’s something out there, far from my home
A longing that I’ve never known

Beautiful, poetic, and true.

I’ve felt this way before. I know others who have felt this way too.

A feeling, an ache, that something is missing, but you can’t quite put your finger on it. Jack is feeling it too. Then it hits me, Jack is a symbol of us, of humankind. But Jack is also an extension of Danny Elfman. Shit. Danny Elfman and I have felt the same thing. The same human thing. You can’t write something like that unless you know what that feels like. An emptiness inside my bones. An ache, a pain, a yearning for something. But what do we do about it? Too often we ignore it. We tell it to shut up, or try to drone it out with music, television, or other people’s thoughts. But you and I both know that it doesn’t go away. It is still there. So what do you do?

Do what Jack does. Think about it. Sing a song about it. Mope around with it. Feel it

Where is the yearning coming from?

What does it feel like?

What does it sound like?

Go for a walk and think about it.

Write things down.

Repeat until you find something that feels good.

When you finally do find something that makes you feel good, as in Jack’s case, Christmas, make it your obsession.

In these little bric-a-brac
A secret’s waiting to be cracked
These dolls and toys confuse me so
Confound it all, I love it though

Obsess about it until something makes sense, anything.

Ask yourself what it means. What does it mean?! And if you still don’t get it, ask yourself again.

Fill your brain with as much information about it as possible. Until it’s tearing you apart.

When you get to the point where it feels like you’re going nuts, let it go. Let it all go and ask, “Am I trying much too hard?”.

Apparently, after you get to that point, whatever the answer, it’s right in front of your face.

You’ll know it’s the right answer only if it feels like:

It’s simple really, very clear
Like music drifting in the air
Invisible, but everywhere
Just because I cannot see it
Doesn’t mean I can’t believe it

And if it doesn’t feel like that. You know what to do.

But when it does feel like that, follow it. Follow the answer.

But wait. In the movie, Jack fucks everything up. He wanted to take Christmas for himself and in the process ruined it for everyone.

It’s true. Jack was unhappy and bored before Christmas came along. With Christmas the empty feeling inside was filled by holiday cheer. But here’s the thing, nobody liked Jack’s version of Christmas and a lot of people were really upset about it. That made Jack feel bad. It made him feel ashamed. Poor Jack.

What have I done?
What have I done?
Find a deep cave to hide in
In a million years they’ll find me
Only dust and a plaque
That reads, “Here Lies Poor Old Jack”

He then gets resentful that he’s being made to feel that way. He didn’t mean to hurt anyone. He was just trying his best. He transitions from resentment to pride. Now he’s glad he did it. As he remembers the experience he says with a smile, “I really tasted something swell”. He suddenly feels grateful for the experience, and that process helped him to realize that he’s happiest being himself.

And for the first time since I don’t remember when
I felt just like my old bony self again
And I, Jack, the Pumpkin King
That’s right, I am the Pumpkin King, ha, ha, ha

He is the Pumpkin King. Not anyone else. Only him. That is his part to play, it’s the only part he ever needs to play, the part that is his most authentic self.

Now when you see someone living their most authentic self, you can’t help but stare in awe and wonder. First of all it’s obvious. It was obvious when Danny Elfman grabbed the microphone and sang

There are few who’d deny, at what I do I am the best
For my talents are renowned far and wide

His whole face lit up. His body moved with the lyrics and the music in a way that couldn’t be forced. His movements were intuitive, natural, inspired. His singing and his dancing made him look blissful. It was magical. He was alive.

And by being perfectly me in that moment, I was alive too.

I was alive and co-creating that experience with him and everyone else in that room. We were captivated by the magic and in playing the part of the audience, we gave energy to the musicians on stage. We applauded between songs, sometimes during songs. We hollered and wooed. We clapped and gave standing ovations. We laughed, we smiled, and some of us even got teary-eyed. We all created that experience. That beautiful, magical, musical, Life experience, exists because we all showed up to play our part.

So on this Halloween, ask yourself, what part do I play?

Some other great articles about the event and the musical genius are found here (includes video) and here.

“Danny Elfman’s Music From the Films of Tim Burton” Concert Setlist