I Dreamed a Dream – Summer Story Tellers

{ June 25, 2010 @ 4:30 am } · { Inner Thoughts, Music }
{ Tags: broadway, cancer, Hope, I dreamed a dream, Les Miserables, master P, simpsons, susan boyle, west wing }

I started listening to Broadway a few months back.  Somewhat inspired by West Wing and The Simpsons reference to HMS Penifore’s “He is an Englishman.”  Through the wonders of Pandora, Les Miserables “I Dreamed a Dream” popped up one day at work.  And a chord was struck. I became a fan of Broadway.

Broadway. Yes Broadway. If you are laughing because I’m listening to Broadway Musicals you can go on and listen to your Master P or Lil’ Boosie or whateva.  Here’s the thing, Broadway is the new classical music. It will probably be around long after the Eagles, Skynard and Rolling Stones finish all their reunion tours and the original soundman has finally passed away.  I started to listen to Broadway a bit more because I noticed the singers actually had passion in what they were singing about.  Or at least acted like it, which is more than I can say for most pop bands today. But I digress to the meaning of this song and the chord it struck.

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 -

These lyrics are a call back to our youth, when we dreamed and imagined and weren’t afraid. But then there was a moment or a series of moments that began to shatter those dreams.  Maybe it was our own choices and consequences.  Or maybe it was a series of people who introduced us to the “real world” and thus took our childhood innocence from us.

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 – Again, a call back to our youth. The singer (a dying Fantine) is going back and forth between the sweet memories of her youth and the stark reality of death which is imminent.

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.

This is the chord that has been struck. “I had a dream my life would be, so different from this hell I’m living.” I’ll be honest, I have felt that way before.  There comes a moment of realization when you look at your situation and say “What happened?”  It is a hopeless moment when you realize life has killed the dreams you had dreamed.  I remember various times in my life  where those dreams were killed.  Summer 2001, Winter 2003, Spring 2004, Fall 2005.  What I have learned is I had to let those dreams die.

This is contrary to the fighter spirit I and many Americans have.  We want to fight to hold onto those dreams.  We want those dreams to come back to life.  We want to see them come to fruition in reality, now.  But the truth is they probably won’t.  The truth is, sometimes it is better to start with a blank sheet of paper rather than trying to dredge up the past.  And more often than not, things will be better than we ever dreamed.

And so we rejoice with the Susan Boyles of the world (whose performance again brought tears to my eyes as I wrote this) who can stand, sing a song so powerfully as if to say “Take THAT LIFE, I’m NOT giving up!”   But the reality is the song is a song about death.  And this is the take away.  LIfe does kill the dreams sometimes.  But our attitude in the death of those dreams can often be the most inspirational moment of the entire play.

I was privileged to spend some time with a close friend who was dying of cancer.  As many who have lost loved ones this way have realized, the dying often teach us how to live.  His dreams were dashed. Dreams of walking his daughter down the isle, dreams of trips and holidays to come.  But he never stopped dreaming.  That is the key.  Just because something happens and one dream dies, doesn’t mean you have to stop dreaming. Hoping. Living.

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