DESMOND J. FLANNERY'S
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Music and Lyrics by Desmond J. Flannery
Musical Arrangement and Instrumentation by Neil Osborne
Bass Guitar by Tass Petridis
Electric Guitar by Matt O'Connor
Recorded by Neil Osborne at Osborne Digital Recording
HEAR THE MUSIC & READ THE LYRICS
The following are excerpts from selected tracks from the CD CLICK ON THE SONG TITLE TO HEAR THE SOUND CLIP
An abhorrent malady is rife throughout both France and England. It is manifest in many ways - poverty, ignorance, disease - but is known, by those whom it directly affects, simply as Oppression. Oppression of the many of little or no means, by the few who have more than enough to last three lifetimes. How much longer can this tyranny continue?
LIGHT UPON THE HILL - Sydney Carton
[sung by Lorenzo Iannotti]
"...The spirit of Freedom like a beacon in the night,
Fanning a flame that burns so bright!
A casket hits the ground, the claret splatters 'round
And the whole of Paris hears the fearful sound.
The heart of France deep in the mud, it thirsted wine but it lusts for blood.
A hunger breeding hate it has to consummate.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.
It was the age of wisdom, the age of fools.
The hope of Spring is in the air despite a blanket of despair.
We know the road so well to Paradise or Hell!
Look to the light upon the hill.
Still burning for the subjugated
Crushed, abused and dominated,
Look to the light upon the hill!
It was the best of times. (No! No!)
It was the worst of times. (No! No!)"
LONDON. A tavern near the Old Bailey courts. Sydney Carton is busying himself in his favourite pursuit, drinking, when an Informant comes looking for him. The regular Tavern Drinkers, unsure of the stranger, are reluctant to help him find Carton, preferring at first to heckle him.
STRANGE MESSAGE (Paging Mister Carton!) - Informant, Tavern Drinkers & Sydney Carton
[Informant sung by Desmond J. Flannery, Tavern Drinkers sung by Lauren Elise, Penny O'Brien, Kristilee Ransley, Desmond J. Flannery & Neil Osborne]
INFORMANT: Paging Mister Carton! Mister Sydney Carton!
Paging Mister Carton!
INFORMANT & TAVERN DRINKERS:
Paging Mister Carton! Mister Sydney Carton! Paging Mister Carton!
TAVERN DRINKERS: Paging Mister Carton!
INFORMANT: Sydney Carton, associate of Stryver,
a message here for Mister Carton!
Sydney Carton, counsellor for Darnay, a message here for Mister Carton!
TAVERN DRINKERS: Paging Mister Carton! Mister Sydney Carton!
Paging Mister Carton! Paging Mister Carton! Mister Sydney Carton!
SYDNEY CARTON: Sydney Carton here, you've a message there for me?
So tell me what you think I ought to know.
INFORMANT: The man you know as Barsad has a checkered history -
He will lie about your client, he will do it openly.
TAVERN DRINKERS: Paging Mister Carton! Mister Sydney Carton!…"
Carton, frustrated by the drudgery of his position as the hired hand of eminent barrister Stryver, is scathing in his criticism of his employer's inferior intellect and the Class system that shall forever divide them.
"It occurs to me I should be annoyed to assist someone whose mentality is void.
Watch my whole career going down the drain
and it's all for the greater gain of Stryver.
I'm just the jackal for Stryver."
Carton's jaundiced outlook on life is due almost entirely to his over-indulgence with alcohol. His bitterness and idleness is more a reflection of his own self-disdain than of any moral convictions he may or may not hold. That is until he encounters the beautiful Lucie who, unfortunately for Carton, is also the object of Charles Darnay's affection.Drunk and jealous of his client, Carton abuses Darnay. In so doing, he rebukes himself, for Carton clearly sees in Darnay, the man he himself once was & should still be.
THE ME I USED TO BE - Sydney Carton
"…I care for no one and no one cares for me. So tell me,
What is there within me to revere?
I won't believe it - someone could care for me.
Why should I trade my self-derision for a tear? But stand in his shoes now!
Don't tell me she would see the man she saw in him inside of me.
And stand in my shoes now!
Treat this envy with disdain. I always have before so why the pain?
The me I used to be makes me despise the man."
PARIS. Oppression at the hands of the vindictive Marquis St. Evremonde is all the Citizens of Saint Antoine have ever known.
HUNGER IN THE SOUL - Citizens of Saint Antoine
[sung by Lauren Elise,Penny O'Brien,Kristilee Ransley,Desmond J.Flannery & Neil Osborne]
"…And the time shall come when the wine will spill.
And the throng will thrill to the kill. For it's not far off 'til the last known toff
Has been sautéed live on the grill!…"
ONLY A CHILD - Gaspard & Marquis St. Evremonde
[Gaspard sung by Russell Morris and Evremonde sung by John Waters]
GASPARD: Ah...you've run him down, he was only a child
But he was my whole world. Into the ground, he was only a child
But now he's left this world.
Upon my life, Evremonde, I'll see you dead!
EVREMONDE: It's remarkable to me that you peasants cannot be
more protective of your own kith and kin.
You're forever in the way,
be it night or day and for all I know you've done my horses in.
You dogs! I would easily ride over all of you and I'd happily rid the earth of you!
For I'm damned if I see any worth in you at all.
Irritating affair, resent me if you dare But I don't care!…"
Seemingly powerless, the peasants have just one hero - a hero who knows that only an uprising can improve things and who harbours a burning desire to be a significant part of it. That hero is Madame Defarge.
DRIVE HIM FAST TO THE TOMB - Madame Defarge
[sung by Glenda Walsh]
"…Never lose your vision to compromise
'Specially when the dealer throws mud in the eyes of the likes of you and me,
Without as much as a thank you monsieur!
Yes I'd really rather, I'd much prefer that we
Drive him fast to the...Drive him fast to the...Drive him fast to the tomb!…"
LONDON. Since meeting Lucie, Carton has become more acutely aware of his own shortcomings and has resolved to rectify the situation. Hoping that she may see in him what he thinks she sees in Darnay, Carton makes Lucie a solemn promise.
[Lucie sung by Zipporah Szalay, Darnay sung by Luke Maccora]
CARTON: "…But this I swear and take it in good measure,
I would give my life to keep a life you treasure.
CHARLES DARNAY, LUCIE & CARTON: Till You,
CARTON: I never saw the sense in trying
DARNAY & LUCIE: Till you,
I always that living should hold more
Than the way it was before I waited
ALL: Till you
CARTON: And since you're gone I can't stop crying for you.
So now it seems I'm back where I belong, never had a dream go wrong
ALL: Till you....Till you....Till you.
In love withDarnay yet somehow drawn to Carton, Lucie is unsure of her new feelings. She turns to her father [Doctor Manette] for advice.
FOLLOW YOUR HEART - Doctor Manette
[sung by John Wood]
"…When I was younger, I had all the answers, anything was mine to do.
Now I find I don't even know the questions
But one thing I'm sure is true -
You can't lose if you just follow your heart."
Unsure, Lucie ponders a life without one of these men - Darnay or Carton - in it.
EITHER WAY I LOSE [With You] - Lucie
"…He doesn't need me like you do
And if you'd only ask me, I'd be there in a minute.
Deep in my soul I need you too, you are in it.
But what I need to know is how my heart would feel
If we said goodbye.
Don't know which way to go, don't know what I don't know -
Either way I win, either way I lose.
Don't know who I should be, don't know who I should see -
Either way I win, either way I lose...with you.
But yesterday, it was all so easy for me.
My life was planned, nothing to stand in the way of my Destiny.
What's to become of me!
Don't know how I should feel…"
PARIS. The Royale Ballroom. Outside, the peasants gather in ever-increasing numbers, threatening revolution. Inside, Darnay's former mentor, Gabelle, tries desperately to alert the Aristocrats to the peril surrounding them should their arrogance & indifference continue.
TERPSICHORE FOR TOFFS - Gabelle & Aristocrats
[Gabelle sung by Normie Rowe, Aristocrat 1 sung by Paul Baden, Aristocrats 2 & 3 sung by Craig Martin & DJ Foster]
ARISTOCRAT 1: "...Revolution eh Gabelle? What utter tosh you do tell.
GABELLE: But it's true I know it's hard for you to see,
But there is none so blind as he who does not wish to see.
Give the people bread or we all end up dead!
ARISTOCRATS 2 & 3: Oh those really nasty revolutionists! Ha, ha, ha ha…"
Revolutionaries storm the Bastille and the French Revolution begins.
LIBERTY! EQUALITY! FRATERNITY! [Or Death!] - Madame Defarge & Citizens
MADAME DEFARGE: "…Death!...To the Upper Class....Death!
Stick it up their arse....Death!
Wanna hear the pricks yell...Send 'em all straight to Hell!
MADAME DEFARGE & CITIZENS: Death!....To the Upper Class....Death!
Stick it up their arse....Death!
Wanna hear the pricks yell...Send 'em all straight to Hell!
Liberty! Equality! Fraternity! (or Death!).
Liberty! Equality! Fraternity! (or Death!)."
As a former aristocrat, Darnay is lured back to Paris to save Gabelle, now charged with being an enemy of the new Republic. Upon his arrival, he is imprisoned and hears of Gabelle's execution. At his own trial, Darnay is sentenced to Death. A distraught Lucie who, along with Manette, Carton and Stryver, has followed him to Paris, pleads with Madame Defarge for her husband's life
THE SHADOW OF DEFARGE - Madame Defarge & Lucie
MADAME DEFARGE: "…All I see is Hardship!...All I feel is Hunger!
All I know is Pain and all I smell is Death!
LUCIE: I can see I was wasting my time here...You have no pity in you ...
MADAME DEFARGE: Not in a single sinew
For those who marry aristos.....Get lost!
You get on my nerves,
the people will deal with 'Citizen Evremonde'
In the fashion he deserves!
Au revoir 'Madame Evremonde'!"
Lucie's devestation inspires Carton to initiate a bold plan. He visits Darnay in his cell and, after a short struggle, anaesthetises him and trades identities.
THE ME THAT I SHALL BE - Sydney Carton
"…So stand in his shoes now!
And maybe she will see the man I hoped she'd see inside of me.
So stand in his shoes now!
And in death I shall remain forever in her heart.....Am I insane?
The me that I shall be makes me become the man....But what if I fail?
I've never been the man to see things through."
Still believing Darnay is doomed, Lucie is preparing to leave Paris when she is confronted by a triumphant and blood-crazed Madame Defarge.
AU REVOIR, MADAME NEEDLES! - Madame Defarge & Lucie
MADAME DEFARGE: "... Just what it's like to fantasise over a meal.
LUCIE: I don't care about fantasies. Reality's here you're a deadly disease.
Why does it have to be Charles who carries the can for all of the Evremonde clan?
MADAME DEFARGE: Not all of them...There's still you!
LUCIE: Well, come on and try, you're welcome to.
You've got to do what you've got to do...And so do I.
Vengeance isn't yours alone, now you've given me a cause of my own.
Au revoir, Madame Needles!…"
Back in Darnay's cell, Carton reflects upon the contents of his farewell letter to Lucie as he steels himself for the ultimate sacrifice.
ANYTHING FOR YOU - Sydney Carton
"…So now the time has come when I can prove to me
That deep inside there lives the man that I should be.
For when it's all been done and I have faced the test,
I'll know my light will shine within you as I'm laid to rest.
Should you remember this moment in the future,
Then don't forget I've no regret,
It's gone to plan.
I would do anything for you.
I would do anything,
Anything...Anything for you."
A FAR, FAR BETTER THING - Sydney Carton
(Spoken) "…I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts
And in their descendants' hearts - Generations hence.
(Sung) It's a far, far better thing I do...Than I've ever done before.
It's a far, far better rest I go to...Than I have ever known."
All songs © 2000, Desmond J. Flannery
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