BMM 2 - I Dreamed a Dream

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong

 I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving 

Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted 

But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hope apart
As they turn your dream to shame 

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came

And still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I'm living
So different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed the dream
I dreamed 

From Wikipedia: "I Dreamed a Dream" is a solo that is sung by the character Fantine during the first act. The music is by Claude-Michel Schönberg with orchestrations by John Cameron. The English lyrics are by Herbert Kretzmer, based on the original French libretto by Alain Boubli and Jean-Marc Natel from the original French production.

The song is a lament, sung by the anguished Fantine, who has just been fired from her job at the factory and thrown onto the streets. She thinks back to happier days and wonders at all that has gone wrong in her life.

My own thoughts: This song was my first official introduction to Les Misérables, and the version by Susan Boyle was the first one I heard.

Opinions on Anne Hathaway's performance in the 2012 movie vary, but I like it, and so did my dad. Dad called Anne Hathaway's crying the most realistic crying he'd ever heard, and he admired how she was able to sing and cry at the same time. That took real talent, he said, and I couldn't agree more.

To this day, my heart truly aches for Fantine. She's a poor, innocent girl who was woefully taken advantage of, and the man who impregnated her gets off scot-free. Chances are he has no idea what happened to her after he'd had his fun with her, and he most likely couldn't care less. She, on the other hand, thought he loved her for real, and in my opinion, that's the absolute worst thing you can do to a person.

Now she's the one who must suffer the consequences, with everybody treating her like scum just because she dared to have a child out of wedlock, and the people who are supposed to help her take care of her daughter are taking advantage of her in all the wrong ways as well. At least Jean Valjean understands and cares, so he becomes a worthy paternal substitute, the kind of man Fantine deserved all along.

Man, Victor Hugo sprinkles no sugar whatsoever in his story. Rumor had it that he personally rescued a prostitute who was being mistreated and on the brink of getting arrested for pure self-defense, and it only worked because he was already a renowned public figure himself. In any case, he had a lot to say about the conditions of the poor and the horrific social injustices they dealt with, and there's excellent reason why the overall title is Les Misérables, which literally translates to "The Miserable Ones."

As depressing as the story is, it's a rather enlightening depression, just like Black Beauty and The Great Gatsby, among many others. I've yet to read the novel but I think the musical did a great job. Like I mentioned earlier, it was one of the few three-hour movies in which I didn't get too restless, and I still like to play a song here and there.