Sarah Brightman & Steve Harley - The phantom of the opera

Christine (Sarah)
Beneath the opera house
I know he's there.
He's with me on the stage,
He's everywhere.
And when my song begins,
I always find
The phantom of the opera is there
Inside my mind.
The phantom (Steve)
Sing once again with me
Our strange duet.
My power over you
Grows stronger yet.
You'll give your love to me
For love is blind.
The phantom of the opera is now
Your mastermind.
Christine
Those who have seen your face
Draw back in fear;
I am the mask you wear,
The phantom
It's me they hear.
Christine / Phantom
Your/My spirit and my/your voice
In one combined
The phantom of the opera is there
Inside my/your mind
Choir (very, very soft)
The phantom of the opera
Is there
The phantom of the opera
The phantom
Sing once again with me
Our strange duet.
My power over you
Grows stronger yet.
Christine / Phantom
I'll/You'll give my/your love to you/me
For love is blind.
The phantom of the opera is now
My/Your mastermind.
The phantom (spoken)
Sing, my angel of music ...
Christine
He's there,
The phantom of the opera.
Christine starts wailing

The phantom (spoken)

Sing ...
Once again with me, our strange duet.
My power over you grows stronger and stronger.
Sing ...
My angel of music/
Sing!
Sing our strange duet -
Sing!
Christine continues wailing,
and keeps on wailing after every
sentence the Phantom sings

The phantom (spoken)

The phantom of the opera
Is now your mastermind;
I am here, inside your mind!
I am everywhere!
You're in my power.
Sing!
Sing, my angel of music!
Sing! Sing!

Music: Andrew Lloyd Webber.
Lyrics: Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe, Mike Batt -- see note below
Show: "The phantom of the opera" (1986).

From: Sarah Brightman Sings the Music of Andrew Lloyd Webber (1992).
and: Love Changes Everything - The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection, vol. 2 (2005).

 
Sarah sings this song with somewhat different lyrics as duet with Michael Crawford on The Andrew Lloyd Webber Collection (1997), which is the version from the musical with the original London cast.
Bjorn Handeland told me the following about the origin of this song:

When Andrew Lloyd Webber first wrote "Phantom", he asked one librettist, I think it was Richard Stilgoe, to write the libretto. However, when it was finished, Andrew wasn't too happy with it, apparently it was too light for what he had intended the musical to be, so he had another librettist (Charles Hart) write new lyrics, and the original writer was only accredited as writer of "additional lyrics". This is the story as I have heard it, and this version which is also on "The Very Best of ALW", is the first version. As you say, it is quite different from the final version, as included in the musical.

Also, Steve Harley, who sings it here, was originally intended for the role of the Phantom. However, Lloyd Webber changed his mind at the very last minute, and Harley is said to have been VERY bitter that Michael Crawford got the part...

Andrew Lloyd Webber is notorious for changing his mind about his songs and where and how to use them ... see for example the song "The Music of the Night".

Source of the lyrics: written down by me; later it was checked against the lyrics printed in the CD-booklet.
With thanks to Becky Wilson and Gene Laycock.

 
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created: 28 September 1999
last modified: 20 November 2005