“J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie” (I Dreamed of Another Life), Paris 1980
Anne Hathaway as Fantine, 2012 film
Fantine's story was one of the principal introductory chapters of Victor Hugo's novel. In the 1980 Paris premiere of Les Miserables, Fantine’s solo song carried the title "J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie" (I dreamed of another life). This was not just a dream, however, but a dream of a totally other life, which expresses the nightmare of her real life. The opening line cuts like a knife: “I dreamed of another life, but life killed my dreams.” Not only was her real life miserable, it was inescapable because of her lot in the prevailing social structure where life was "solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short" (Thomas Hobbes). The Paris 1980 version of the song is straightforward, brutal and angry, much in the spirit of Hugo's story. It has a harshness that carries into Rose Laurens' performance of the song. She laments that life killed her dreams like “smothering the cries of a dying animal.”
Fantine was a young woman from the provinces who moved to Paris when 15 years old. In the song, the "reality" of life came to Fantine in the form of her “prince charming” who became the “assassin of my childhood.” She was left with a child and no way to support it. This was all facilitated by a society (men, religion, money and sex) that “disarms the victim and not the thief” and crushed both her childhood and her dreams.
Fantine was an innocent girl with little appreciation for the "ways of the world." Six years later her lover abandoned her and her child Cosette, whom she then left in the care of the rapacious innkeepers Thénardier. They abused Cosette and milked Fantine for support money. Fantine worked in factories, sold her hair and teeth, fell into prostitution and succumbed to tuberculosis. Fantine's life was a crucible of sacrifice. Upon realizing her situation, factory owner and mayor Père Madeleine (aka Jean Valjean) vowed to care for Fantine's daughter Cosette.
Fantine was an innocent girl with little appreciation for the "ways of the world." Six years later her lover abandoned her and her child Cosette, whom she then left in the care of the rapacious innkeepers Thénardier. They abused Cosette and milked Fantine for support money. Fantine worked in factories, sold her hair and teeth, fell into prostitution and succumbed to tuberculosis. Fantine's life was a crucible of sacrifice. Upon realizing her situation, factory owner and mayor Père Madeleine (aka Jean Valjean) vowed to care for Fantine's daughter Cosette.
The Paris ‘80 rendition of this song is nicely structured into 7 stanzas of 4 lines each with an ABAB rhyme scheme until the final stanza where the last lines add an abruptly emphatic and angry close. In the 1985 London adaptation that was re-named “I Dreamed a Dream,” those last despairing lines are entirely removed and inserted in Fantine’s part of the song “Lovely Ladies” where they become:
“Just as well they never see
The hate that's in your head
Don't they know they're making love
To one already dead!”
“Just as well they never see
The hate that's in your head
Don't they know they're making love
To one already dead!”
In the Paris ’80 version of the show, Fantine also sang “L’air de la misère” (“Ode to misery”) where she described her miserable life in some detail. "L'air de la misère" was a great melody but difficult to translate into English and loaded Fantine with two major solos early in the first act. London ’85 changed the title to “On My Own” with new lyrics and gave it to Éponine who sings about her unrequited love for Marius.
Rose Laurens had the role of Fantine in the 1980 Paris show.
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Original French Fantine J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie Mais la vie a tué mes rêves Comme on étouffe les derniers cris D’un animal que l’on achève J’avais rêvé d’un coeur si grand Que le mien puisse y trouver place Mais mon premier prince charmant Fut l’assassin de mon enfance J’ai payé de toute mes larmes La rançon d’un petit bonheur À une société qui désarme La victime, et pas le voleur J’avais rêvé d’un seul amour Durant jusqu’à la fin du monde Dont on ne fait jamais le tour Aussi vrai que la terre est ronde J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie Mais la vie a tué mes rêvés À peine commencée, elle finit Comme un court printemps qui s’achève. Ensemble: J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie Fantine: J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie Ensemble: Mais la vie a tué mes rêvés Fantine: Mais la vie a tué mes rêvés Ensemble: J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie Fantine: Comme un court printemps qui s’achève Ensemble La nuit, la nuit Je sombre en mon corps Et je m’abondonne À des sinistres corps à corps Fantine La nuit, la nuit Je sombre en mon corps Et je m’abondonne À des sinistres corps à corps Fantine La nuit, la nuit Pour deux pièces d’or Quand ils font jaillir en moi Leur pitoyable effort Ils ne savent pas Qu’ils font l’amour avec la mort |
Translation Fantine I dreamed of another life But life has killed my dreams As one smothers the last cries Of an animal one kills. I dreamed of a heart so big That mine could find a place inside it But my first Prince Charming Was the assassin of my childhood. I paid, with all my tears, The ransom of a small happiness To a society that disarms The victim, and not the thief. I dreamed of a single love Lasting ‘til the end of the world Of which you never cease exploring, As true as the earth is round. I dreamed of another life But life killed my dreams Barely begun, it ends Like a short springtime fades away. Ensemble: I dreamed of another life Fantine: I dreamed of another life Ensemble: But life killed my dreams Fantine: But life killed my dreams Ensemble: But life killed my dreams Fantine: Like a short springtime fades away. Ensemble At night, at night I drown in my body And I abandon myself To the disastrous coupling of bodies. Fantine At night, at night I drown in my body And I abandon myself To the disastrous coupling of bodies Fantine At night, at night For two pieces of gold When they force inside me Their pitiful effort, They do not know That they make love with death |
Adaptation: I Dreamed a Dream (London 1985)
The London production in 1985 gave Fantine’s song a new title and new lyrics that, borrowing from Piaf, one can only qualify as “rose-colored glasses.” The title became “I Dreamed a Dream” with entirely new lyrics. The difference is stark between “I dreamed of another life” and “I dreamed a dream.” The former title implies a complete indictment of her current life which, as detailed in Paris ’80, was misérable. A side-by-side comparison of the French lyrics, English translation, and English adaptation is available here.
The two songs have the same melody, and much the same story, but while Paris ‘80 spoke clearly of prostitution (“deux pieces d’or” and “corps à corps”), London ‘85 waxes poetic and even elegiac in the description of youthful adventure (“men were kind,” “voices were soft,” “words inviting” and “days filled with endless wonder”). London '85 is also deceptively evasive in its soft-peddling depiction of reality: “the tigers come at night” with “voices soft as thunder,” “He took my childhood in his stride.” Somehow, towards the end Fantine still dreams: “he’ll come to me. That we will live the years together.” This is a far cry from the crushing horror described in Paris ‘80 as well as in Hugo's book. The last two lines of angry words in the 1980 version are excised completely from London ‘85 and shunted off to Fantine’s part of the song “Lovely Ladies.”
Perhaps this song’s most famous moment was when Susan Boyle (aka SuBo) walked on stage at Britain’s Got Talent in 2009 and belted a version that was heard ‘round the world, followed by her debut studio album of the same name in November. The sensation arose not only from the astounding quality of Boyle’s performance but from the low expectations for a frumpy 48-year old unknown amateur singer from a small Scottish village. In only 6 weeks, it became the world’s biggest-selling album for the entire year and broke records in the UK, the US and around the world.
Lea Salonga performed Fantine in the 25th Anniversary Concert in 2010.
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Section One There was a time when men were kind, And their voices were soft, And their words inviting. There was a time when love was blind, And the world was a song, And the song was exciting. There was a time...then it all went wrong... 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. |
Section Two But the tigers come at night, With their voices soft as thunder, As they tear your hope apart, And they turn your dream to shame. He slept a summer by my side, He filled my days with endless wonder... He took my childhood in his stride, But he was gone when autumn came! 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 from this hell I'm living, So different now from what it seemed... Now life has killed the dream I dreamed... |
UPDATE: In November-December 2024, a French-language version and new production of Les Misérables returned to Paris at the Châtelet Theater. It was quite successful in a limited run with plans to tour the French provinces in 2026 and then to return to the Paris Châtelet in Fall 2026. For this production, Alain Boublil re-worked about 20% of the French lyrics, including Fantine's song J’avais rêvé d’une autre vie. The new version includes significant changes from the 1980 French original. Over the years, therefore, the song has seen 4 different versions (1980, 1985, 1991, 2024).
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