As I mentioned in my discussion of my new Beyerdynamic headphones, I’ve recently been diving back into my old music to re-experience it again under better circumstances. Here’s something that I just unearthed:
One of the most significant things I got out of my high school education was getting introduced to the French musical Notre Dame De Paris (thanks Mme. Girondel!) . I don’t think I fully appreciated at the time, but the production featured top-notch production values, spectacular choreography, and most importantly, beautiful music.
The musical concludes with Quasimodo crouching over his precious dead Esmeralda, imploring her to dance and sing once more, insisting that he’ll join her once more in the after life. To me, the musical presents a stunning meditation on the whims of fate. The deformed Quasimodo is forced to watch as his love is destroyed by forces beyond his control. None of us get to choose the hands we’re dealt and sometimes we can’t even control how they’re played. That’s the ultimate tragedy.
The English translation just doesn’t do this song justice. It’s times like this when only the beauty of French can fully convey the splendor of emotion that is being felt here. Even back then, I grasped how achingly beautiful this song is. Give it a few whirls. Maybe you’ll feel the same way.
If you’re interested in checking out the musical, I would recommend this version of the MP3 album. Every song in this thing is spectacular.