Guys, I'm gonna talk about Les Mis again. Buckle up.
I watched a video from a guy called Micky Jo I think where he discussed his least favorite lyrics in Broadway love songs. No shade to him, because everyone's entitled to their own opinions and he did make some good points, but I disagreed with him here.
His complaint about A Heart Full of Love was that Cosette keeps shooting down Marius's attempts to be romantic (I am lost - I am found, do I dream - I'm awake, etc)
But here's why I actually think that those lyrics are so good!
It demonstrates their characters and their backgrounds. Perfectly.
Cosette - who's spent most of her life hidden away in a convent behind walls, living a life apart from the real world, sees Marius as the embodiment of that reality, so her romantic associations with Marius are far more real world.
Marius - who's been beaten and broken by the real world quite a lot lately now that he's living a life of poverty with only himself to depend on, sees Cosette as a dream. An unobtainable angel who's miraculously falling for him and he can't understand why. (And also, let's face it, he's surrounded by classics majors who spout poetic nonsense nonstop, he probably picked it up from them.)
"Cosette, I don't know what to say."
"Then make no sound."
That's not her shooting him down, that's her saying that his presence is enough. He doesn't have to say anything if he can't.
"I am lost." - I love this line because the symbolism runs in so many ways.
I am lost. I followed Eponine into the bowels of Paris to find you and now I'm literally lost.
I am lost. I'm lost in the beauty of your eyes and your smile and everything about you.
I am lost. I'm a lost cause now. Lost to anyone who ever thought I was theirs.
I am lost. I don't have any opinions that are my own. I've always been told what to think, first by my grandfather, now by my friends. I am lost and I'm hoping I might find myself in you.
I am lost. I am twenty years old, impoverished, and fighting a cause I don't believe in. I don't know what I'm doing with my life.
Just...yeah
"I am found"
On the flip side we have Cosette, who is also quite literally found by Marius because he was looking for her (double meanings are so clever I really don't get why Micky had an issue with this song)
She's found because she's been spending her whole life hidden away.
The faraway song calling out to her in In My Life has found her.
Life has found her.
Valjean still sees Cosette as a child lost in a wood. But that's not what Marius sees. She's not that child lost in a Wood anymore. She's been found.
"Do I dream?"
Do I dream? You're so perfect and wonderful I feel I must have strayed into a dream. (*swoon*)
Do I dream? Do I dare to dream that I might have fallen in love?
Do I dream? Is this what all the poets felt when they sang their songs of love?
"I'm awake"
I'm awake. I've been dreaming my way through life already. Dreaming of finding love. Dreaming of living life. Dreaming of what it's like beyond my father's protectiveness. I found you and now I'm awake.
I'm awake. I've missed so much of my life. I've slept through it all. Now, I see you and I'm wide awake. I don't want to miss this.
I'm awake. "They say we are asleep until we fall in love. We are children of dust and ashes. And when we fall in love we wake up and we are a god and angels weep." (Great Comet anyone?)
So yeah, I have a lot of feelings about this song.
86 notes
·
View notes
God the fact the in a heart full of love Marius says “I am lost” because he always knew where his life was headed (revolution) and he’s completely taken aback by falling in love and cosette says “I am found” bc her whole life she’s felt lost and she’s been isolated and finally has purpose after she meets Marius in this essay I will-
25 notes
·
View notes
relistening to tma and losing my mind more with each episode. anyways. today we're talking about how there are three characters in the show who are meant to be/groomed to be "the chosen one" for some specific purpose (agnes for the lightless flame, gerry to carry on some esoteric bloodline, jon for the watcher's crown/the web's escape plan) and all three of them have that running theme of being completely powerless in every aspect of their lives despite being made to be something powerful. we never get agnes' own perspective on her own life, gerry dies and is kept in limbo for *years*, and jon is marked to be the antichrist from age 8, like all of them were used as tools rather than people and if you couple that with all three at some point expressing that their fantasy is to live a normal life and be a normal person but they were trapped by divinity......fucked up if true
2K notes
·
View notes