The Antidote to Pain
Most of the shock from yesterday's school massacre has worn off. Twenty small children killed along with six adults for no reason in Connecticut--I wouldn't say I'm over the pain, but I've put it into a file cabinet along with all the other causes of my pain. I'll dredge it back up some day when I need a good cry...with the way things have been going lately, I won't need to make myself cry for a while.
I keep going back to the new version of "Les Miserables" that is due out on Christmas day. It looks pretty impressive, to be sure, but the main thing I think about is how timely the lyrics are, even as it's set during the French Revolution, and the story itself was written years and years ago. I never noticed this before; I always used to think it was just a story about life during a war.
There's "I Dreamed a Dream," which slips neatly into our contemporary society as well as it does into the world of the musical. It's all about how once upon a time we were young, we had hopes, life was good...we felt that we would be happy forever. And along with that are a few lines about "there was a time when men were kind." Without Michael, all kind men seem to have died as well. I feel vulnerable and helpless to understand everyone's angles and motives, that I know are just swooping over my head.
Then of course there's the song the jilted lover sings to make herself feel better while she thinks about her failed relationship, I try to make myself forget the lyrics and remember her story. The universal appeal of the lyrics doesn't mean anything-- so I tell myself. But two verses say it all:
"On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him till morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers"
Oddly enough, I think it's about how life goes on, even when it's hard. "I Dreamed a Dream" doesn't have that hope. The bleakness of Fontine's despair as she sings is the only defining characteristic of that song. Somehow, keeping these songs and their emotions in mind, looking forward to finally getting to see the glorious musical on Christmas day (or around then), through all the heart-wrenching tragedy in the world today has given me something to cling to. They say poetry is the language of crisis. Maybe music is the antidote to pain. Even when it's sad, something about it makes unimaginable sorrow easier to bear.
I keep going back to the new version of "Les Miserables" that is due out on Christmas day. It looks pretty impressive, to be sure, but the main thing I think about is how timely the lyrics are, even as it's set during the French Revolution, and the story itself was written years and years ago. I never noticed this before; I always used to think it was just a story about life during a war.
There's "I Dreamed a Dream," which slips neatly into our contemporary society as well as it does into the world of the musical. It's all about how once upon a time we were young, we had hopes, life was good...we felt that we would be happy forever. And along with that are a few lines about "there was a time when men were kind." Without Michael, all kind men seem to have died as well. I feel vulnerable and helpless to understand everyone's angles and motives, that I know are just swooping over my head.
Then of course there's the song the jilted lover sings to make herself feel better while she thinks about her failed relationship, I try to make myself forget the lyrics and remember her story. The universal appeal of the lyrics doesn't mean anything-- so I tell myself. But two verses say it all:
"On my own
Pretending he's beside me
All alone
I walk with him till morning
Without him
I feel his arms around me
And when I lose my way I close my eyes
And he has found me
I love him
But when the night is over
He is gone
The river's just a river
Without him
The world around me changes
The trees are bare and everywhere
The streets are full of strangers"
Oddly enough, I think it's about how life goes on, even when it's hard. "I Dreamed a Dream" doesn't have that hope. The bleakness of Fontine's despair as she sings is the only defining characteristic of that song. Somehow, keeping these songs and their emotions in mind, looking forward to finally getting to see the glorious musical on Christmas day (or around then), through all the heart-wrenching tragedy in the world today has given me something to cling to. They say poetry is the language of crisis. Maybe music is the antidote to pain. Even when it's sad, something about it makes unimaginable sorrow easier to bear.
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