Les Miserables – I Dreamed A Dream lyrics

Fantime is an attractive but very poor girl from France who had a relationship with an older student, who is dissolute and rich. He always told her that he loved her and she naively believed him. Her dream was that she would always remain together with him for the rest of her life. But after he made her pregnant, he deserted her and her child. Fantime has no way of earning money to feed herself and her child. Eventually, she is even driven to selling her teeth in a moment of desperation. Starved and weakened, she contracts tuberculosis and dies in a hospital, not knowing that the hero of Victor Hugo's classic novel, "Les Miserables", will make himself responsible for looking after her child.
Hugo's novel was a powerful attack on early 19th century France's lack of compassion for the very poor. When Fantime sings that her dream has died, we know that the society she lived in has killed it. In such a society you can never winif you are poor because the odds are so stacked against you. People who listen to this song today should realize that we live in a different society where the playing field is a lot more even. In our society, even if you are poor, there are much better chances for survival and even for success for those who not only have a dream, like Fantime did, but who also have a plan. A dream and a plan are not the same thing! First, have a dream that is worthwhile and realistic. Next, turn it into a plan and get to work! Dreams usually do not come true all by themselves. They need us to help them.