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Hope this isn’t an “over used” topic, but does anyone know what Mr. Elfman believes in terms of religion? What he grew up as, what he believes in now? The only thing I’ve found his is being on an atheist list or something like that, but he made a joke about it (Q:”Do you believe in God?” A: “Of course I believe in dog!” (I’m pretty sure that’s it)), so I just wanted to see if anyone could confirm what he does believe. He also mentions some religion in Boingo songs such as “The Winning Side”.
Don’t forget the backwards lyrics from Cry of the Vatos. That is definitely Christian. Or does the fact that they’re backwards have some other meaning?
I’ve researched this many a time. He was born Jewish. Come on, Elfman is a very Jewish name. As for now, I’ve only heard about the dog thing.
From what I have read, he is of Russian Jewish decent. What I do know is that his nephew Bohdi belongs to the church of Scientology and his brother Richard lives in the Celebrity Center, which is run by Scientologists. This does not mean that Danny is a Scientologist, or that he isn’t a practicing Jew, it only suggests that he probably was raised in a more open-minded progressive environment and didn’t have the Jewish religion forced upon him or any other religion for that matter. This is pure speculation and I could be completely wrong. I do know he was very critical of the religious right atleast in his songs for OB, so I think it is safe to say he is not a Christian. I know in a past article he described his creativity as, “coming from his soul”, for lack of a better word. So, I would guess he is probably spiritual, but not in any religious way.
i really hope elfman is not a scientologist…
Danny is probably not a very religious man (I don’t really have a clue about it). But I know for sure that both he and Richard did their Bar mitzvas when they were 13. Richard himself mentionned it in an interview somewhere, and you’ll have to trust me on this one, because no, the link lies in an obscure and forgotten place of my memory.
– Squeezir.
The way I look at it, Cry Of The Vatos is taking a jab at Christain religious fanatics who always try to find Satanic messages in rock albums played backwards.
I found this wonderful article some months back where Elfman discusses his views on Hell and the Afterlife.
JF: You’ve often dealt with themes of death and the afterlife, venturing into those areas musically and also thematically.
DE: I don’t know. I don’t know. Why have people been obsessed with death for centuries, you know? I can’t really answer that. I wish I knew. It’s just there, you know, the great mystery. I don’t believe in life after death.
JF: You don’t?
DE: No. So, I suppose, you know, that becomes a fascinating mystery. I mean, I’d like to… I hope… sometimes I really… I kind of hope that there’s a Hell. I hope that there’s a Heaven and that I’m qualified for Hell. ‘Cause that’s where I would definitely want to go. You know, if there is a Heaven and a Hell, I hope that involves the Russian plan. I’ve always loved the Russian version of Hell, where all the writers and the interesting people are gonna spend their time gathering. It’s just like this big house in like the middle of somewhere. If there is a Christian version of Heaven, I know I don’t want to go there. Awful bad. Jews don’t have Heaven and Hell. It’s not really part of that way of thinking. If there is any kind of Hell, I would like to think it’s along the lines as presented in Master Margarita, a Russian novel, and that nails it for me.
….I remember at a very early age being repulsed by the idea of Christian Heaven as a reality. It was really scary to me. I was just really hoping they weren’t right. The idea that it’s white, that everything’s white, and it’s sunny and it’s all this glowing light. I’ve always had an aversion to light, and I’ve always had an aversion to sun, so it made it sound like this horrible day at the beach. If there truly is a punishment Hell out there, for me, I’m gonna die and I’m gonna open my eyes and I’m gonna be at the MTV Beach House for eternity. That’s the worst thing that I could come up with for myself. If there was like a punishment that’s as bad as it gets, it’d be that I’m forever at the MTV Beach House.
….If reincarnation is correct, that’s even worse. I don’t want to start over and over again. So it’s like, Christian Heaven: please no. I don’t believe there’s any fire suffering stuff. You think Hitler’s suffering in a pool of fire right now? Uh-uh. No way. It’s just not gonna happen. But, what do I know? But I sure hope I don’t come back as… whatever. That’s a horrible thought to me, coming back over and over again. So what do I end up with? I end up with alternate versions of Heaven and Hell, and the one I prefer is this one.And here I always thought I was a weirdo for being absolutely terrified of heaven back in Sunday School.
oh wait, no one said I wasn’t.Your comment made my day; thanks for that!
-EIck! I *hated* _The Master and Margarita_!
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