Sometimes I Dream So Loud, Close of Act I, a song of defiance.
[Omar Greene's song of despair and menace is interrupted when Cora suddenly grabs a knife and holds it to her own neck, defiantly.]
[Intro 1]
I ain't never been no Corrine,
And I ain't never gonna be.
My name is Cora,
And you, my friend,
Are the low down thing.
[New melody builds, bittersweet, defiant.]
[Intro 2]
Between things that kill me
And things that matter at all,
Don't think you're either--
You're nothing but a chimney ghost.
And I am not afraid.
[Verse]
Sometimes, it feels good
To let go of all your hopes,
And bend toward the butcher
With a naked throat,
And after years at sea,
Aching to disembark,
To let an open wound
Arouse the mercy of the sharks.
And though I can't sing myself straight into Heaven,
I don't have to look you in the eye.
But, then again, I might.
[Chorus]
You are
A winsome reason to fly on,
Perfect the collar of immodesty,
And pray myself to God.
But on a lonely wind,
My mother is still singing
That every word you say to me
Is wrong.
Hear my voice.
Watch my eyes.
What happens next
Must come as no surprise.
[Points the knife at him.]
Because
Sometimes I dream so loud,
I can't hear you.
[Verse]
[Returns the knife to her throat.]
Wouldn't I
Make a lovely ghost?
Wake you every night
To remind you how I died?
But if I
Want to pain you most,
All I need to do
Is stay alive.
And though I can't keep my tremblin' steady,
When you speak I need not to reply.
But then again I might.
And though I can't break these chains that hold me.
I don't need to stay alive.
But then again I might!
[Finale]
You don't love me.
You don't scare me.
You will not break me;
You will break yourself to try!
I hear laughter!
I hear singing!
My mother is with me!
I can hear her in my heart!
She's with me!
Every word you say I'll listen, just to tear your soul apart!
Because
Sometimes I dream so loud!
I can't hear you!
[She hands him the knife. He turns it over and begins beating her with the hilt. Curtain Act I.]
