Schönberg, Claude-Michel: I Dreamed a Dream (from "Les Misérables")

There was a time when men were kind
 when 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.
 But the tigers come at night
 with their voices soft as thunder.
 As they tear your hope apart
 as they turn you dream to sha-me...
 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 dreamed he'd come to me
 that we would 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.