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One of the hard things, I've noticed, in writing lyrics for musicals is to use a famous line as the centerpiece of the song. It might scan poorly, or feel like it's jammed in, or the rhymes around it will be forced. Or any number of reasons that can go wrong. This, however, is one of the few that got it right. And that's all the more impressive given that it's one of the most famous last lines in English literature. (Another is "There is a Sucker Born Every Minute," from Barnum, which a posted a video of here.) This is the final song in the British musical, Two Cities, which has music by Jeff Wayne and lyrics by Jerry Wayne. It's based on Charles Dickens' novel, A Tale of Two Cities. And the song is "It's a Far, Far Better Thing." This is a number that could have go wrong in so many different ways, but it's quite touching and when they reach "the" line, it's extremely effective. Adding a nice touch to all this is who sings the song. It's the actor Edward Woodward, who most people would recognize him from the TV series, The Equalizer. But he did several musicals, one a pretty big hit, High Spirits, based on Noel Coward's play, Blithe Spirit. As you'll hear, he's actually quite good.  Just to refresh your memory for the context of the song --
Sidney Carton is a young man who's been bored most of his life, and has largely wasted it. He's in love with Lucie Manette, but she's long-engaged to Charles Darnay and deeply in love with him. The are all in Paris during the French Revolution, and Darnay has been wrongly arrested and in prison waiting to be beheaded. Because he and Carton bear a passing resemblance, Carton decides to change places and save Darnay, so that his beloved Lucie will be happy. And as he heads to the guillotine, he recognizes the culmination of his wasted life and says, "It's a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known." And with that, the novel concludes. Which brings us to the song.
11 Comments
Pauline Thomas
9/26/2014 10:45:36 pm
Thank you so much for this recording. I also liked the song sung by the character Sydney Carton (Edward Woodward) `I can't go on'. I just wish this musical, or at least the songs from it were available on a CD.
Robert Elisberg
9/27/2014 01:05:22 am
Pauline, Thanks for your note. I agree there are a few good songs in the score. Overall, I wanted to like it so much more, but just wasn't bowled over by it. Yes, it's too bad it's not on CD -- one of the advantages of my having treasure-hunted old record stores, and then spending a ridiculous amount of hours converting LPs to digital. I still have a lot that haven't been converted. Eventually a person gets a tad burned out, but I did the ones I most wanted. When the spirit moves me I'll occasionally do another that I particularly want.
claire
7/13/2015 10:40:47 pm
I saw this in London and can still remember the lyrics and melody to 'only a fool' and most of 'it was the best of times' and 'the machine of doctor guillotine' :-)
Robert Elisberg
7/14/2015 02:16:26 am
Claire, thanks for your note and lucky memories of having seen the show.
Carys
6/25/2016 06:35:26 pm
now available on CD! complete with extra tracks of songs originally edited from the show
Robert Elisberg
6/25/2016 07:59:41 pm
Carys, thanks much for the update. Good to know.
Tommy Amoroso
7/25/2018 11:03:52 pm
I prefer the Jill Santoriello musical. However, I do genuinely think that Edward Woodward has a voice that suits the character of Sydney Carton better than that of James Barbour. James Barbour sounds like a typical Gaston whereas Edward Woodward has a very haunting and ghostly voice and I think that suits the enigmatic character of Sydney Charton far more than a typical bombasic baritenor like James Barbour. I do think James Barbour is a very talented man but I think that vocally, Edward Woodward just suited the essence of the character more accurately.
Robert Elisberg
7/26/2018 08:03:36 am
Tommy, thanks for your note. For thems who are interested, here's the link to a montage of a few songs from the Jill Santoriello version which (for some reason I didn't know) PBS aired in a concert production, that this video is from.
Sarah Woolley
3/30/2022 06:12:59 am
The song using the same famous words but in a different tune from "A Simple Wish" is absolutely beautiful. IMHO better than this and also than the musical. I truly wish someone would release it (Ramin Karimloo.... Hadley Fraser.....)
Robert Elisberg
3/30/2022 09:52:58 am
Sarah, thanks for your note about this. I found a very bad 1-minute video of the song you reference from "A Simple Wish." Of course, the movie is something totally different, not an adaptation of "A Tale of Two Cities," but a fairy godmother story about a little girl making a wish that her father can appear in a Broadway show. As far as I can tell from the video (not having seen the movie, though I know of it), in fairness it doesn't seem to be a full song, but only about 30 seconds of a final, wonderful crescendo, so a comparison of songs isn't possible. (Though perhaps they sing a full version earlier in the film...?) Those 30 seconds are very nice, though.
Sarah
3/30/2022 01:58:13 pm
Thanks for the reply Robert. The film doesn't really look up my street but I have ordered the DVD for about £2 from Amazon as the song is beautiful. I'm pretty familiar with aToTT having read the book and seen an amateur play but I would love to see the musical and opera if they ever visit the UK! Leave a Reply. |
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AuthorRobert J. Elisberg is a political commentator, screenwriter, novelist, tech writer and also some other things that I just tend to keep forgetting. 
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