Trans-Siberian Orchestra — Beethoven’s Last Night

The Dreams of Candlelight

Fate then reminds [Beethoven] of Theresa, his first and greatest love. Together they witness the young couple’s first night together. Young Beethoven is already being called the greatest piano player who has ever lived and Theresa is a Princess in the Hapsburg Empire. They are both deeply in love.

Theresa
Could this night it last forever?
Every moment held together
As if in a perfect trance
And such a thing could be

No one else would understand it
We would know the gods had planned it
And for such a night as this
That they gave memory

And we would live inside this night
Within the dreams of candlelight
If you would bring this wish to life
And spend this night with me....

Could this moment last forever?
And this dream our one endeavor
If the stars would just enchant
And time would then agree

Every moment of tomorrow
From this evening we would borrow
If this wish the stars would grant
And gently oversee

And we would live inside this night
Within the dreams of candlelight
If you would bring this wish to life
And spend this night with me....

And we would live inside this night
Within the dreams of candlelight
If you would bring this wish to life
And spend this night with me....

And spend this night with me....

I’ll Keep Your Secrets

Beethoven believes that if Theresa were to have discovered that he was becoming deaf she would most certainly have left him. Before this could happen, he ended their relationship refusing to ever see her again.

Fate takes him outside of his town house where Theresa is watching him through the window. She can see him slumped over the piano. She does not understand why he has driven her out of his life. She knows that something is terribly wrong but has no idea what it is. Nothing that he could tell her would affect her love for him, but Beethoven cannot believe this.

Theresa
Lost in your dark I see you there
What do you see beyond your stare?
And you believe that no one else can know?

What is this thing you keep inside?
Out of the light and wrapped in pride
Always afraid that one day it will show

I’ll keep your secrets
I’ll hold your ground
And when the darkness starts to fall
I’ll be around there waiting
When dreams are fading
And friends are distant and few
Know at that moment
I’ll be there with you

What are these voices that you hear?
Are they too far or far too near?
What are these things that echo from the past?

Who are these ghosts you see at night?
There in the shadows of your life
They only live by the light you cast

I’ll keep your secrets
I’ll hold your ground
And when the darkness starts to fall
I’ll be around there waiting
When dreams are fading
And friends are distant and few
Know at that moment
I’ll be there with you....

I’ll be around
When there’s no reason left to carry on
And every dream you’ve ever had is gone
And the dark is deep and black without a sound
And every star has been dragged to the ground
Know at that moment I will be around
Know at that moment I will be around....

After the Fall

Beethoven once more relents when he realizes what he would lose. Fate then takes him to an alley outside a neighborhood tavern. It is years later and both Beethoven and Theresa are considerably older. Neither one of them has ever married. By pure chance Theresa sees Beethoven leaving a bar late at night but she does not make her presence known to him. From a distance she ponders what might have been.

Theresa
Time, only time
Could never take me away from you
And why, should it try
Time never cares just what we do

It just sits on a star and gazes down
Dropping its moments all around
And if I could wish upon that star
I would find what you dream and then ask God to grant it

I wanted to say this
Long before this dark would fall
At night I would pray this
Then wonder if God heard at all

For the chances I’ve had are now long gone
And that star is no longer wished upon
For on this night it seems too far away

Try, I have tried
To pretend that I don’t care
But then, sleep arrives
And in every dream I find you there

But I don’t want the past to be my life
And I don’t want to live inside the night
But I don’t want to see your shadow fade
So I sleep and I dream – though I don’t understand it

I wanted to say this
Long before this dark would fall
At night I would pray this
Then wonder if God heard at all

For the chances I’ve had are now long gone
And that star is no longer wished upon
For on this night it seems too far away....

You can live your life in a thousand ways
But it all comes down to that single day
When you realize what you regret
What you can’t reclaim but you can’t forget

If I could just fall back into my life
And find you there inside this night
And let eternity just drift away....