Preludes Original Cast - The Prelude lyrics

(Prelude in C# minor, op. 3, no. 2 begins. RACH goes to stop RACHMANINOFF.) [DAHL] No, let it play (They listen a bit.) Tell me about this piece [RACH] I wrote it when I was 19 I—I have no idea how I did it I was in a practice room At school And I was just playing around in C# minor C# minor is kind of the coolest key It just feels really…dark and silken under the fingers Like midnight But a really sophisticated midnight Sleek And super ancient Like, sci-fi ancient And sneaky And sensual And rich Anyway, the chords just came, I mean they're pretty obvious Just C# up to E and back down… Then A to G# and back down And, I just wanted it to be loud Just f**ing loud and epic I wanted to write something that would shake the halls And upset my teachers There's so much restraint So much that is precious— I just wanted to really, play the piano, you know? And then It got published And it was a hit And people, loved it And they loved me And for a while, it was amazing I was 19 And people were stopping me in the street And asking me to sign things And fawning over me And, and, I mean people would be inarticulate around me When they found out I wrote the Prelude “The Prelude!, Oh, oh wow!” And I would play it everywhere I went At concerts, at bars, at people's houses And they would gush And they would freak out And they would ask me to play it again And again And again And it got to be That now whenever I go to a party And see a piano in the room I tense up Just waiting for it— And then, and then sometimes instead they ask me to listen To listen to them play it And, and I'll walk down the street In a town I've never been to And hear it coming from apartment windows And it's, it's four sharps, which is a lot for some people So, there'd be, so many wrong notes And, and I know they're trying But, ah, the wrong notes are just— And once I was on tour And they put me in this f**ing great apartment And this guy next door Was practicing it All day long And I'd pound on the wall And yell “Stop! Stop! Stop!” And I'm sure he thought I was some a**hole Who doesn't like music Oh and then it got published in the States Which I still don't see any money from Because the international copyright laws are so f**ed up So now even when I go there they're playing it And ask me to play it And I just I just— I wrote it when I was 19 And I've written a lot of other things since And, it's just, what if What if That was the one What if that was the one, best thing I'll ever do And I spend the rest of my life Just getting worse And worse And drying up Uninspired And I never become great Never, fulfill— All because one afternoon In a freezing little practice room That I don't even— I don't even know how that happened [DAHL] But most people don't even do that Other people don't ever make anything like that [RACH] Other people Invent X-rays And Tesla coils! And figure out f**ing relativity— Or they cure polio Or they figure out how to stop the ozone Or— And other people Take out the garbage They get up at 4am So our streets don't stink And people help people And people give money And time And they work in soup kitchens Or hospice Or triage They do so much more— They— [TOLSTOY] Come in, come in young man [RACH] I—I'm sorry, I have to go