No audience tonight.
I must hide
Can't bear to read the reviews.
Too many notes mis-sung
So many songs off key,
Too much faith in a big name,
Too little thoughts of Michael C.
The ink was new and the paper clean,
The fading summer, nineteen eighty four
The first time I wrote Phantom,
It was such a beauitful and magnificant score.
I never knew it would be such a hit
I thought it would be good but I must admit,
When he sang my songs the audience wept with joy
And the money rolled right in.
And when he grasped a Tony,
I could only grin and lavish in Phantom's praise
I decided to bring the show to the silver screen,
But it would never last.
I longed to hae Antonio play the Phantom,
And yet the phans kept telling me no.
I wanted to Phantom to be Jackman or Antonio,
But now I'm nothing but a composer longing for the successful movie I can't have.
A campaign went up on the internet
In nineteen ninty two showing their intent.
With their letters they wrote a poem of love
For Michael's Phantom.
And the pleading eyes of Crawford the Great,
In nineteen ninty two the promise was made.
When I recall his portrayal, I can't help but think,
To deny him, was a sin.
So many letters entering my mailbox,
A sea of saddened pleas.
So many calls for Michael, howls of war
Intoxicating fears.
I used my music just like a bandage
I used his voice just like a wound.
And I'll never know where I went wrong
But I can hear the phans rising up out of my memory now,
Just like the demons rising up from a tomb.
And there's no way ever to apologize
Repent or make amends.
No release and no redemption
And the guilt will never end.
There are phans who believe in Michael,
There are phans who believe in his art.
There are phans who believe that my way is right
Or the movie was a mistake.
There are those who believe in various Phantoms,
Crawford and Colm,
Travolta and Bandarias
The other B-way stars
And the power of his voice.
But most phans believe in just one voice
That of talent and technique
Moral and indestructible
An all talented Crawford.
There's a prediction that I now will make,
And I'm sure I will be right.
When the Phantom of the Opera finally ends,
The Phantom most remembered in this world
Will be the Phantom of Michael Crawford.