Another Commentary

So, apparently my last song commentary on the Phantom of the Opera song “All I Ask of You” was really liked, so I’ve decided to do another. This one’s not as much of a commentary, but more of a ‘what’s really being said.’ Hey, close enough right? This time I’m doing the song “Music of the Night.”

When this song is sung (by the Phantom), Christine has just arrived in his lair and is, to be totally honest, completely terrified. The Phantom is singing this song to relax her, since he is going to keep her there (or so he thinks). So, here is the song.  This one isn’t as good as the last one, but whatever. Try to enjoy it.

Remember! The lyrics are in this color and fontand my commentary is inthis color and font.Oh, and (yes, this is the last thing, I promise) if you want to hear/watch the Phantom perform this, go to the Page (not post) “The Phantom of the Opera Songs.”

Night time sharpens, heightens each sensation
Darkness stirs and wakes imagination
Silently the senses abandon their defenses
Helpless to resist the notes I write
For I compose the music of the night

The Phantom’s a jerk. He’s telling Christine what she wants to hear. Ignore the light, it will only tell the truth. The darkness will let you see what you want to see. It’ll let you hear what you want to hear. He’s right and truthful about one thing; he’s a beautiful composer.

Slowly, gently night unfurls its splendor
Grasp it, sense it, tremulous and tender
Turn your face away from the garish light of day
Turn your thoughts away from cold unfeeling light
And listen to the music of the night

Night is beautiful. It lets you believe anything and everything. Here, the Phantom here is telling Christine to grasp the reality she wants to know, and ignore the reality that she’s in.

Close your eyes and surrender to your darkest dreams
Purge your thoughts of the life you knew before
Close your eyes, let your spirit start to soar
And you’ll live as you’ve never lived before

Close your eyes and open your thoughts. Let your soul soar into it’s own world. Then you’ll live as you never have before, because you now can. That’s what he’s telling her.

Softly, deftly, music shall caress you
hear it, feel it, secretly possess you
Open up your mind, let your fantasies unwind
In this darkness that you know you cannot fight
The darkness of the music of the night

Don’t try and fight it, Christine. Christine, let yourself live your own live; a live of your own imagination. Let yourself join me in the music. Live through your fantasies.

Let your mind start a journey to a strange new world
Leave all thoughts of the world you knew before
Let your soul take you where you long to be
Only then can you belong to me

In this world, this reality, Christine cannot belong to the Phantom. She’s too scared. But, if she lets herself belong to the Phantom’s reality, in the depths of the opera house, then she will not be afraid.

Floating, falling, sweet intoxication
Touch me, trust me, savor each sensation
Let the dream begin, let your darker side give in
To the power of the music that I write
The power of the music of the night

The Phantom wants-needs-Christine to trust him.

You alone can make my song take flight
Help me make the music of the night

“All I Ask of You” Commentary

I just want to go through this song from The Phantom of the Opera because it is just so full of…liesthat I don’t think many people see, and it’s seriously bothering me. So, I copied the lyrics from this website, if you want to read it, and I’m going to have my own commentary in it every now-and-then. To make it easy to find my commentary, it’s going to be orange and in this font. So, please enjoy the truth behind “All I Ask of You.” Oh, and most of this is stuff that never gets carried out.

(Raoul)
No more talk of darkness
Forget these wide-eyed fears
I’m here, nothing can harm you
My words will warm and calm you

Um, no. Raoul actually later CREATES more fears for her by making her do the Phantom’s Opera. Yup, no more fears indeed. Furthermore, he says ‘nothing can harm you’ and I just want to point out that immediately after they sing this song a chandelier almost FALLS ON CHRISTINE!

Let me be your freedom
Let daylight dry your tears
I’m here, with you, beside you
To guard you and to guide you

“To guard you and to guide you?” I honestly don’t think Christine wants to hear at this point since she recently asks the “Angel of Music” to guard her and guide her. The ‘Angel’ agrees and then the ‘Angel’ turns out to be The Phantom. Beautiful word choice Raoul.

(Christine)
Say you’ll love me every waking moment
Turn my head with talk of summer time
Say you need me with you now and always
Promise me that all you say is true
That’s all I ask of you

No, all he says is not true, Christine. Frankly, I think the Phantom’s more honest. One of my favorite moments is when the managers are telling Christine she has the biggest part (the lead) in the Phantom’s play. Christine says no, and when the managers are like, “Why not?” Raoul comes in and tells Christine that nobody can make her perform. Literally one minute later Raoul comes up with a fantastic plan that has Christine singing in the opera. Then Christine’s still saying “Please don’t make me.” Raoul tells her all hopes are resting on her. Ya, nobody can make you sing but he makes her. L-I-A-R.

[Raoul]
Let me be your shelter
Let me be your light
You’re safe, no one will find you
Your fears are far behind you

Ya, only behind the statue RIGHT BEHIND HER!

[Christine]
All I want is freedom
A world with no more night
And you, always beside me
To hold me and to hide me

[Raoul]
Then say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime
Let me lead you from your solitude
Say you need me with you here, beside you
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Christine, that’s all I ask of you

I’m convinced that because of Raoul, Christine is in more solitude after this song than she was earlier. I will hand it to him; he goes where she goes: when Christine is kidnapped to the Phantom’s liar at the end of the play and is trapped, Raoul smartly gets trapped in the lair.

[Christine]
Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you

[Both]
Share each day with me, each night, each morning

[Christine]
Say you love me

[Raoul]
You know I do

[Both]
Love me, that’s all I ask of you.

(They kiss.)

[Both]
Anywhere you go, let me go too
Love me, that’s all I ask of you

Okay, I can’t complain about this. Through all Raoul does, he does have Christine’s best interests at heart. He just has a really bad way of showing it.

Like my thought process? I hope so because that is my final say in that, unless you happen to have seriously convincing comment (so, please comment).

Now, to the best part. The Phantom’s watching behind a statue, Raoul and Christine leave to go back to the Opera house, and the Phantom comes out of his hiding spot. Lyrics from the same place as above.

[Phantom]
I gave you my music, made your song take wing.
And now, how you’ve repaid me, denied me and betrayed me.
He was bound to love you, when he heard you sing.
(Sobs) Christine, Christine.

Okay, let me just say: Poor Phantom! He had to listen to everything Raoul was saying that he wanted to do for Christine. Now, the Phantom probably would have done a worse job than Raoul of keeping his promises, but both of them did badly.

[Raoul & Christine]
Say you’ll share with me one love, one lifetime
Say the word and I will follow you
Share each day with me, each night, each morning…

For just a minute, imagine you are the Phantom. You’re innocently crying about your broken heart and suddenly, the girl you loved and the man who took her from you start singing again. Rubbing it in.

[Phantom]
You will curse the day you did not do!
All that the Phantom asked of you!

(In the play, the Phantom now drops the chandelier now.)

Now, I’m not saying the Phantom’s perfect, but he sure isn’t that much better than Raoul. Raoul never dropped a chandelier or killed anybody, but he did throw Christine into his plan that totally failed and just made things worse for her.

Well, now you know my thoughts about this song. I hope you likes them, or at least saw my thought process. I could have picked any song from this point on (go look, you’ll see what I mean), but this one starts the chain reaction (I know I’ve been doing a love of things love-related, and that’s why). Please comment your thoughts!

Phantom of the Opera

The Phantom of the Opera is my new favorite play/movie. In English recently, we’ve been studying the lyrics to Phantom of the Opera, and I like it a lot. It has some slow songs, some fast songs; it has some soft songs and some loud songs. This play has EVERYTHING! Since we’re done with it, I want to give a run-down of what I think of some of the songs. So sit back, relax, and get ready to read.

“Think of Me”

In this song, Christine, the main girl, is trying out for the part of an opera that someone else was originally the lead in, but quit at the last minute. Christine’s voice is beautiful, and everyone’s wondering who her ‘mysterious tutor’ is. The song begins in the audition, and moves to the night of the performance where she has the role. I love this song because it starts off with just a soft piano, but when it goes to the night of the performance, there’s a full orchestra that’s loud and beautiful. During the performance, Raoul, Christine’s childhood friend, sees her and is totally amazed. The song ends with a fantastic ‘of’ (kind of hard to explain what I mean. Let’s just say it’ll be the longest ‘of’ you’ve ever heard). 

“Angel of Music/Little Lotte (not one we studied)/The Mirror”

In these songs, it is after the performance and Christine is in her dressing room when her friend, Meg, comes to talk to her. In “Angel of Music,” Meg asks Christine who her tutor is. Christine tells her about an angel her now-dead father told her about, the Angel of Music, and how it’s visiting her. Christine eventually becomes in a trance, and Meg leaves her after the song slightly frightened. In “Little Lotte” (a song we didn’t study), Raoul comes in and invites Christine out to dinner. Christine refuses saying the Angel of Music won’t allow it. Raoul calls her out as silly and tells her to get ready as the song ends. We then move on into “The Mirror,” where the Phantom is talking to Christine about how annoying Raoul is to be asking her to dinner and about how Christine shouldn’t have accepted. Christine, thinking it’s the Angel of Music, apologizes and asks the Angel to enter. When he does, the Phantom pulls her into a trance and literally pulls her down to his liar. While this is happening, Raoul is freaking out behind the locked door.

“The Phantom of the Opera”

Ok, first of all,  best song EVER! Oh, I’ve had this song stuck in my head for weeks! Anyway, in this song, the Phantom is taking Christine down to his liar. Christine and the Phantom are both singing, and not only is this song lyrically strong, but the music is FANTASTIC! At the end, Christine hits a fabulous note. Christine is still in a trance during this song. I feel like I’ve said enough, there’s not much I can say… so, ya.

Other Songs In The Order That I Don’t Want To Explain:

“The Music of the Night”

“All I Ask of You”

“Masquerade”

 

“Wishing You Were Here Again”

During this song, Christine is asking for guidance from her father in a graveyard. However, it seems as though she’s speaking to both the Phantom and her dad. This song is really beautiful. She’s singing lovely, the music is awesome, the lyrics are strong, and the set-up in just phenomenal. 

Ok, I don’t want to go through the last three songs because I’m trying to keep this relatively short, so I’ll just summarize. Christine gets kidnapped once again and taken to the liar of the Phantom. The Phantom takes off his mask and tells Christine how abused he was a child. Raoul comes to save her and the Phantom makes Christine chose: Does she want to spend forever with the Phantom down below the Opera House and have Raoul’s life spared, or does she want to return to the world above, but have Raoul killed. Eventually she decides…

…what did you think I was going to tell you the ending? No! Go watch it for yourself. There are more songs than just the ones I mentioned, we only studied nine. Enjoy the  play or movie and I hope you enjoyed this blog post.

 

Music

With the voices of a choir’s perfect harmony,

Among the people who joyfully sing until the night

Toward the end, from the beginning

Inside the thoughts of people’s souls,

Following examples of truth and lies

For children and adults, around everyone

Beyond the end of time,

Music is Everywhere!