You will be speechless.
Below the fold are the lyrics and a link to Susan Boyle’s fan website.
- - - - - - - - -
‘I Dreamed a Dream’ (from Les Miserables)
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.
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 form this hell I’m living
so different now from what it seemed
Now life has killed
The dream I dreamed.
Here is the Susan Boyle fan site, “Never Judge a Book by Its Cover”.
Hat tip and gratitude: no2liberals
41 comments:
Thank you, Dymphna, for this treat for the ears and the heart.
I was, to my enduring pleasure, present, about 15 years ago, for a very similar event. At "amateur night" at a Club Med, a short pudgy middle-aged lady stood on stage set to, as we expected, break our eardrums with a sentimental butchering of a song from *Phantom of the Opera.* We cringed and resigned ourselves to five minutes of embarrased torture. Twenty seconds later we were, en mass, on our feet applauding, screaming, and crying. The voice, the phrasing, the entire performance was a once-in-a-lifetime treat -- more thrilling than we had any right to expect.
Truly, "don't judge a book... ."
Talent, hard work, and intelligence does not equal success: one must have looks, personality, and be agreeable to the gatekeeper. And this does not bring into consideration the affect of the spiritual.
Last night I was correcting my 10 year old's math homework. She absolutely hates math and has no patience for anything but horses. I pointed out to her the beautiful symmetry of geometry and math and gave several examples to illustrate my point. FINALLY, after some tough slogging, I managed to engage her interest. I told her, while we were plugging away, that God's presence is nowhere more amply revealed than in the perfection of mathematics and geometry.
Well, after watching this yesterday, I called her into my office to show it to her. And I realized that here too the divine was revealed in the most unexpected place. It is this sort of miracle that serves as an illustration of God's divine nature.
Which reminded me of the first time I saw that very same daughter smile. It was as though a crack formed in the universe and I was able to see straight through to the face of God. When that woman began singing I could hear God whisper.
Dymphna,
You couldn't have given me a more lovely birthday present than this on my 54th birthday. (Making Ms. Boyle look like a spring chicken!) I will go to my voice lesson today with a song in my heart.
Very sweet and sad. After reading the lyrics and hearing a bit of her backstory you could tell she must have a special affinity for that song. Never been kissed!? Poor lass. Hopefully that will change for her.
well wow Dymphna. THANK YOU for that.
I AM a UK citizen who totally AVOIDS such reality shows. I may even have shunned the repeat.
WHAT a mistake. This BRILLIANT performance made me, an elderly cynical hard-nosed male, actually cry. Again and again. I watch, I cry, then I watch and cry again!!!
Susan Boyle isn't a "star in the making". She IS a star with perfect pitch, a beautiful voice and totally top-class rendition.I've never heard the like before.
I WILL be watching and voting from now on. So thanks again
When I first heard/watched this clip, I was struck by how great her connection to the lyrics seemed, how she simply sang the song with heartfelt expression. I truly hope she finds a great vocal coach and a wide audience out of this exposure.
Speaking of joy and the wonders of music - especially for those of us who tend to fall into a state of sadness and depression while seeing Islam's conquest of the West (Europe is doomed and all that) - imagine yourself waiting in a crowded main railway station. Suddenly you see a bunch of young people running into the place... What would you expect?
Certainly not this.
@kepiblanc
Richard Rodgers remains one of the greatest composers in the history of mankind. This little ditty was basically a "throw-away" and yet endures to this day. He was a titanic genius and his music will endure to the end of time.
@RtL:
Usually, I have the good sense to stay out of other people's lives, and blog-posts. In good conscience, I cannot stay out of yours, this one time.
You thoroughly and skillfully deconstructed the Susan Boyle myth. Are you -- is any of us -- better off for that? NO!
I'm sixty four years old, RtL, and I have learned, with difficulty and with no small amount, formerly, of flashy (though stupid) arrogance, that while objective excellence has its virtue and its reward, every day can be filled with wonder and with delight, if I'm not so damned hard on myself and others.
My head and my heart frequently disagree. In my dotage (allowing for the appropriate occasions of intellectual rigor), I choose to listen to my heart more and more often. There be more true and joyful understanding there than dreamed of in all your philosophy, Horatio.
Perhaps, possessing wisdom consists of having learned which organ to listen to most attentively when. You lead with your head this time, RtL, and I fear, missed an (all-too-rare) occasion of Joy. I implore you, stop doing that to yourself. I urge you to know you will not regret learning the secrets your heart has to reveal.
Top Kafir,
Thank you. I knew it wouldnt be long before someone would miss the entire point of the Susan Boyle experience. And you spelled out exactly how I felt about RtL's comment.
Once more with feeling...
No ad hominem attacks.
Debate on GOV is confined to civil discourse. Calling someone a "drone", mindless or otherwise, is not civil and does not promote courteous engagement.
You are free to clean up your comment and repost it, but read the instructions on the comment box header first.
Thank you.
kepiblanc--
great performance. Here's an American improv...different theme, but most entertaining.
Improv in Grand Central StationI like because even we no-talent dweebs can join the fun. No skill required.
RtL --
Dymphna will probably come on and give her reasons. But I believe it was the phrase "mindless drone", directed at one of your fellow commenters, that caused the deleting-wand to wave. It constituted uncivil name-calling and ad-hominem argument, breaking rule #1.
This blog is a free-speech zone, but only within the rules, as given at the top of the comment box. See here for details.
If you stay around here long enough, you'll find out we don't delete comments simply because we disagree with them.
A truly free discourse cannot flourish without a civil and temperate framework within which it can be sustained. Otherwise it degenerates into a free-for-all.
There was a time when such things were well-understood -- when reasoned debate was still possible -- but, unfortunately, we live in a degraded age.
RtL:
"No ad hominem attacks.
"Debate on GOV is confined to civil discourse. Calling someone a "drone", mindless or otherwise, is not civil and does not promote courteous engagement."
That's Earth-Mother Dymphna, looking well after her children. At GoV, every day is Mother's Day. And I am grateful.
@ RtL:
You ask why your second comment was deleted. But obviously you didn't read my comment following the deletion. I told you then and there: no ad hominem attacks. I also suggested you clean up and resubmit the comment. Instead, you use a comparison fallacy to attack the deletion. Since you won't go back and read your words, or don't see the incivility, here is your quote, directed at another commenter:
You missed totally everything and unfortunately ended up becoming just another of the mindless drone mindsets.."mindless drone" might appear to be within the bounds of civility for you, but it isn't here.
No name-calling, no attacks on race, gender, religious beliefs, or what one believes to be the IQ level of another commenter.
I refer you to a website on rhetorical fallacies for future reference.
You will notice that your demand to know why you were deleted violated a few other rules of rhetoric. But I'm letting it stand since your various opinions re my motives and their consequences should stand as an example of how *not* to debate.
RtL --
Since you deleted your own comment, I'll have to re-post excerpts from it in order to answer you.
RtL said...
You deleted a whole comment because of that? I compared him to being like one of the many mindless drones who sit in the audience of Cowell's many money making shows. while he plays God. I'm simply shocked that you deleted the whole post because of that.
I'm sorry to say but your site does not advocate free speech and it seems that you are no different to the OIC who have passed legislation in the UN on defamation of Religion.
I am sad to say that this post has been my last and when I post it, it shall also be the last time I view the GoV website. I have found unfortunately that the very internet sites who champion freedom of speech are also the ones who attack it too.
To have rules and regulations, stating that we must follow them unfortunately urinates all over freedom of speech.
[...]
All the best.
First of all, you apparently skimmed Dymphna's and my comments with so little attention that you have still failed to comprehend that it was Dymphna who deleted your comment, and not I. Nor do you seem to have read her stated reasons.
Evidently you are unable distinguish between our objections to how you said what you said, rather than the content of what you said.
Furthermore, you are making a common categorical error (often made by Leftists), equating rules within a private publication or organization with "censorship". Only governments can impose censorship.
These are simply the rules that we, the proprietors of the blog, choose to maintain. If we deleted all comments we disagreed with, or all those containing the letter "Q", we still would not be "censoring" our commenters.
We are simply exercising our editorial discretion.
Furthermore, I think you'll find that our attempts to enforce civil discourse have led to more interesting and informative discussions than would have occurred if we followed to pattern of some blogs, and allowed free rein to peoples' obscenities, insults, and general incivility.
You won't be the first to leave in a huff.
Vaya con Dios, RtL.
njartist: Talent, hard work, and intelligence does not equal success: one must have looks, personality, and be agreeable to the gatekeeper.However realistic your assessment might be, it becomes rather cynical in nature when the "gatekeeper" you refer to consists of so-called "reality shows" (which they most definitely are not), and MTV (correctly pronounced, "Empty - V").
Modern media has so perverted the fundamentals of art that the Susan Boyles of our world stand not a chance of success within its uttely superficial constraints.
What chance does a short, overweight, balding guitarist have on MTV, regardless of his skill? Current overemphasis upon photogenics and "being agreeable to the gatekeeper" (or casting couch in Madonna's case), have stifled endless Susan Boyles. As a middle-aged, dowdy, British scrubber she has, on average, a snowball's chance in Hell of realizing her artistic dream, no matter how much such talent entitles her to it.
And this does not bring into consideration the affect of the spiritual.Again, I'd say that Susan Boyle is doing just fine in the spiritual department. She shows more spunk and spirit than a boatload of modern "celebrities" who are merely famous for being famous.
All of this is speaking as someone who is self taught on half a dozen instruments, has performed publicly including on radio and television, run my own open microphones plus writes lyrics and composes in classical, folk, rock, ballad, jazz, blues and far eastern styles.
The modern music industry isn't about what you know: It's about who you know and will continue to strangle talent in the cradle until the Internet eats its lunch. One look at how the fossilized hulks, called "record lables", are doing will tell you everything. The vast majority of them are going down in flames due to their congenital inability to abandon a previously abusive contract system and the obscene profiteering that accompanyied it.
Thanks for the h/t, Dymphna.
It was my pleasure.
I came across the video a few days ago, while looking for something else, and believe it was divine guidance, that made me click on it.
I've attended performances of Les Miserables, many times, and the performance by Susan Boyle was the most impressive, and I believe, perfect rendition.
I never watch these types of shows, this particular one not available in the U.S., and you cannot imagine my amazement that such a wonderful example of amateur talent was on display.
The reaction of the audience to her, during the interview phase, made me angry. She was undeterred, she knew what she could do, and when it mattered, she put on a performance of a life time.
I wish her every success, and I pay homage, once again, to the under dog.
Susan is one of God's perfect creations. She even wow'ed old cynical Cowell. Nice to see this kind of thing.
BTW - B & D, I still owe you an email. Just life has interfered. Gotta work.
My son and I had a conversation just today about how the world is full of beauty and good people but there is a minority that spoils it for the majority. My son offered that for some reason, the bad behavior is so much more salient in our minds.
This clip yielded beauty, to the ears and to receptive souls and yes, I pity anyone who didn't feel a glimmer of joy hearing the artist and seeing the audience reaction.
The link posted by Kepiblanc is also uplifting, especially watching the audience move from puzzlement to tentative appreciation to loving it with clapping, bodies swaying and beaming smiles.
What a privilege to be part of something life-affirming instead of witness to some inhumane act. We need to turn up the quantity and volume of the former to counter the latter.
I've been called lots of things but never sentimental. Still, my eyes got pretty darn foggy. That happened in part because of Susan's impressive performance and in part because in the span of six short minutes I became a less cynical man.
Thank you for this gift. It never ceases to amaze me how just the right thing comes along at just the right moment to lift one's spirits and let one know that we are not alone in our efforts.
Islam would not allow us to have our hearts and souls moved by this beautiful music.
Thanks for that ~D!
Doug
Starling,
How 'bout "Filthy Capitalist Pig?"
The Obama DHS hit job on conservatives is real(U//FOUO) DHS/I&A will be working with its state and local partners over the next several months to ascertain with greater regional specificity the rise in rightwing extremist activity in the United States, with a particular emphasis on the political, economic, and social factors that drive rightwing extremist radicalization.
Rightwing extremism in the United States can be broadly divided into those groups, movements, and adherents that are primarily hate-oriented (based on hatred of particular religious, racial or ethnic groups), and those that are mainly antigovernment, rejecting federal authority in favor of state or local authority, or rejecting government authority entirely. It may include groups and individuals that are dedicated to a single issue, such as opposition to abortion or immigration.
Doug, if you want to see the face of a right wing extremist, look no further.
Top Kaffir:"My head and my heart frequently disagree. In my dotage (allowing for the appropriate occasions of intellectual rigor), I choose to listen to my heart more and more often."
Was it Pascal who said: "Heart has reasons that Reason doesn't know"?
Felicie: I do not know if it was Pascal or not. Unfortunately, all I know of Pascal is his famous "wager," which I've been unwilling to take to date.
Thanks for the excellent quote. I do wish I'd had it handy to my mind when I attempted (above) to paraphrase, and only butchered, *Hamlet.*
I'd be interested to learn how you know Pascal. Are you a student of French, or philosophy?
Top Kafir,
I am (was) a student of philosophy, but I know nothing about Pascal and only know this quote because I've seen it cited over the years. (This is why I wasn't sure whether this was Pascal or someone else. LOL.)
I now googled it and saw that it was Pascal, indeed. :) The original is: "Le coeur a ses raisons, que la raison ne connaît point." It is supposed to be from Pensées.
no2liberals,
A frightening example of the rightwing threat to all things Progressive!
Damn, Dymphna...
I saw this just now, I mean really "now", in the mass media. I... I... I just had to come here and leave a comment. Great, just great. Everything...
Grandma blowed the futility and superficiality of everybody away. A kick in today's society balls. A well diserved one.
Brilliant, the humility... everything... I loved it and, although I was not speachless, I have to confess I almost cried.
Just thought you would want to know / deserved to know.
This is ten years old, also by Susan Boyle.
Cry me a river
@ Felicie
Once a philosophy student, always a philosophy student -- for better or worse. That's my philosophy. More power to you, girl. IMO (whatever that may be worth), some knowledge of formal philosophy cannot be a bad thing in life.
Though, it's true, as my late friend Socrates noted, the whole wisdom-loving adventure package probably ought to have some sort of Surgeon General's warning label -- "Can be hazardous in uncongenial environments."
TK
filthykafir.blogspot.com
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