Mid-Week Music #44 - I Dreamt I Dwelt In Marble Halls

This week’s MWM is a little late. Not for the reason you’d think, though. I chose it because of something that happened this past Sunday—but I’m still thinking about it now. What happened was that we watched the finale of Dickensian.

What is Dickensian, you may ask? It’s a show made by BBC—a Victorian drama/mystery, I suppose. But what makes it different is that it takes characters from the writings of Charles Dickens and puts them all together in the same area of London. They all know each other. They interact. And any one of them might be responsible for the murder of Jacob Marley.

It’s really an interesting show. Dickensian sort of shows the backstory of a lot of Dickens’ characters. However, I will warn you—it’s a very grown-up show. It goes into a lot of things that, well, are far heavier matters than kids can deal with. There’s definitely anti-Christian bias all over the place. Then again, that's to be expected nowadays.

 

Plus, for me, it was just really depressing. The only thing that saved me from crying myself to sleep that night was a funny story my sister read aloud (and occasionally mangled). Still, I did like seeing all these stories come together, seeing how the classic Dickens stories we read came about. I will never watch any adaptation of A Christmas Carol the same way ever again.

The (I must say) rather beautiful song I picked for this week’s MWM was sung by the character of Nancy in the finale. She has a pretty voice, with a very interesting sound. I also found out that the song itself is actually from that time period! So that was neat. And it was a perfect song for this show and its finale.

However, as she sings, we see several of the characters from the show—and what we see might give people who haven’t watched the show spoilers. Actually, no. Scratch that. It will give people spoilers. So I decided to include another version of the same song, in case you haven’t watched the show yet.

Without further ado, “I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls”.

As I said, I thought I should give you a rendition of the song without spoilers. So I chose one—by the artist Enya, well known for “May It Be” in Fellowship of the Ring. This version is particularly eerie and ethereal. I suppose it was meant to be dreamlike. But it worked for me: it made me imagine this echoing through the dreams of one particular character, after the events of the finale. (The dreams of Amelia. Poor lady. Scrooge isn’t the only one haunted at the end.) That’s why I chose this version.

I dreamt I dwelt in marble halls
With vassals and serfs at my side
And of all who assembled within those walls
That I was the hope and the pride
I had riches all too great to count
And a high ancestral name
 
But I also dreamt, which pleased me most
That you loved me still the same
That you loved me
You loved me still the same
That you loved me
You loved me still the same
 
I dreamt that suitors sought my hand
That knights upon bended knee
And with vows no maiden heart could withstand
They pledged their faith to me
And I dreamt that one of that noble host
Came forth my hand to claim
 
But I also dreamt, which charmed me most
That you loved me still the same
That you loved me
You loved me still the same
That you loved me
You loved me still the same