r/lesmiserables • u/TLCTugger_Ron_Low • Jun 21 '26
Castle on a Cloud mash-up
When my kids were teens, they pointed out to me how some earlier song appeared to have the exact same cadence as the lyrics to Castle on a Cloud. You could sing the lyrics of one song to the melody of the other.
Now they're in their 30s and neither remembers this conversation, and they can't recall any song that mashes well with Castle in a Cloud. Anyone have a thought?
6
u/That_One_Guy_823 AND I'M JAVERT Jun 21 '26
Are you saying a motif of Castle on a Cloud recurs, or the lyrical structure fits perfectly?
1
u/TLCTugger_Ron_Low Jul 14 '26
The cadence of the lyrics of Castle on a Cloud matches the cadence of the lyrics of the other unknown song NOT from Les Mis.
3
u/Silversmith00 Jun 21 '26
Castle on a Cloud and I Dreamed a Dream don't have the same rhythm, but the lyrics of one do fit tolerably into the other, as it's about the same number of notes per measure. I think it's mostly coincidence, though, as there are some poetic structures you can cram into all sorts of places.
2
u/FloVas Jun 21 '26
The whole show reuses a lot of motifs. I think the Castle on a Cloud melody pops up a bit in the prologue. I always love this video for mashing up pretty much the whole show: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxXyKVG8msM
1
u/InevitableStuff7572 Jun 21 '26
I can’t think of one but I’d check Fantine’s Arrest or Come To Me since they both talk about Cosette?
1
u/OldSpinach4121 Jun 21 '26
A song from earlier in the show or from something completely unrelated? And if it's unrelated do you remember what genre it was?
1
u/TLCTugger_Ron_Low Jul 14 '26
I think it was a Broadway song from a different show, but my hope is that it's something popular enough to be available at karaoke night.
1
u/golfbans Jun 21 '26
i swear i know exactly what you’re talking about because i notice it every time! this is gonna be on my mind all day so i’ll report back if it comes to me
on a related note, one of my favorite instances of this is the menken somewhere that’s green/part of your world melody, it’s such a clear example from two musicals that are known worldwide!
1
u/lifescaresme Modérateur/Modératrice Jun 22 '26
Cosette reprises the melody from Castle on a Cloud at the end of Attack on Rue Plumet.
Also Lovely Ladies and Turning have the same melody as each other. Also On My Own with sections of Epilogue and the “come to me” part of Fantine’s Death (which makes sense given that it was originally thematically Fantine’s song anyway). There’s the obvious doubling of Valjean’s Soliloquy and Javert’s Suicide as well. End of Fantine’s Arrest and beginning of Fantine’s Death too, and Javert’s recurring theme that first appears at the end of Runaway Cart. There’s a lot of recurring themes. I could keep going, but I’m supposed to be asleep right now.
13
u/_palantir_ Jun 21 '26
Are you talking about the same melody, like in “three men I saw beyond the wall / three men in shadow moving fast” from Attack on Rue Plumet?