The iconic feature song from the 1985 musical Les Misérables, “I Dreamed a Dream” was sung in the 2012 film by Anne Hathaway but has also been famously sung by Aretha Franklin, Elaine Page, Susan Boyle, Collbaro, Neil Diamond, and the Glee cast!
It’s a great practice piece for beginners as the melody is relatively simple and slow, yet challenges beginners by going both quite low and high – good luck!
F F F F E F G A
I dreamed a dream in times gone by
F F F F F G A D-F
When hope was high and life worth living
A A A A G A-Bb ^C
I dreamed, that love would never die
A A A A A Bb ^C-D-F
I dreamed that God would be forgiving…
F F F F E F-G-A
Then I was young and unafraid
F F F F F G A D-F
When dreams were made and used and wasted
A A A A-G A Bb ^C
There was no ransom to be paid
A A A-A A Bb ^C-D-F
No song unsung, no wine untasted…
F# G A-F# D C .Bb
But the tigers come at night
F# G A-F# D C .Bb-G
With their voices soft as thunder
E F G E C .Bb-.A
As they tear your hope apart
E F G F E G F-G-A
As they turn your dream to shame….
F F F F-E F G A
He slept a summer by my side
F F F F F G-A D-F
He filled my days with endless wonder
A A A A – G A Bb ^C
He took my childhood in his stride
A A A A G G-F F
But he was gone when Autumn came…
G G G G F# G A B
And still I dream he’ll come to me
G G G G G A B-E-G
That we will live the years together
B B B B A B-^C ^D
But there are dreams that cannot be
B B B B B ^C-^D E-G
And there are storms we cannot weather
B B B ^C B A B G
I had a dream my life would be
B B – B ^C B A ^D B-A-G
So different from this hell I’m living….
B B – B B A B ^C ^D
So different now from what it seemed
B B B B A A
Now life has killed the dream
G G
I dreamed….