I Dreamed a Dream

Vid
Title:	I Dreamed a Dream
Creator:	Chris Soto
Date:	1990s (before 1994), remastered by Killa in 2005
Format:	On the K/S Press Songtapes #1 (VCR)
Length:	4:43m
Music:	Schönberg (music), Kretzmer (lyrics), Randy Graff (vocalist) –Les Misérables
Genre:	slash
Fandom:	Star Trek
Footage:
URL:	online here
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I Dreamed a Dream is a Kirk/Spock vid by Chris Soto to Schönberg (music), Kretzmer (lyrics), Randy Graff (vocalist) –Les Misérables.

The vid is considered by many to be a Star Trek classic and was showcased in the 2005 Vividcon and 2011 Kiscon vid shows.

Reactions and Reviews

"The song is titled I Dreamed a Dream, and the video tells the story of Kirk’s loss after Wrath of Khan. This song, and the images Chris uses to go along with the lyrics, are simply heartwrenching. The video opens with the scene from Star Trek III, where Kirk paces the bridge, and finally ends up with his hand on Spock’s empty chair, as the words “There was a time when it all went wrong” are sung. It then flashes back to the chess scene from Where No Man Has Gone Before and then on to scenes from the original series, then onto STII, and shows Kirk staring at Spock’s empty chair as he realizes that Spock is missing, as the words “But he was gone when autumn came” are sung. This video is so powerful in its words and imagery, as it ends with Spock’s death, and the words “Now life has killed the dream I dreamed” as Spock slumps to the floor, with Kirk bending over him. Pure genius."

I read about this vid in the newsletter of the day, and wrote back asking how I could obtain a copy. Lo and behold, a few weeks later, Chris’s tape arrived in the mail, a gift from an incredibly talented and generous person to someone she didn’t know. It started a friendship by mail that I valued so highly and miss to this day.

Chris was an artist, and saw things through an artist’s eye. Boy, was that apparent in her vids. The song originally told of a pregnant young woman’s abandonment by her lover, but serves to describe Kirk’s anguish over his lover’s death. We know these scenes so well: young Kirk and Spock playing chess, working together, talking together, and then Spock’s death, Kirk placing his hand on Spock’s chair on the bridge, Kirk looking lost and alone. When combined with haunting music in Chris’s own unique style, what results is a work of art.

Warning: be sure you have a tissue handy.

"I Dreamed A Dream (the song from Les Miz set to a K/S vid) made my cry my eyes out! It is beautiful and soooo tender & tragic. For anyone not prepared, who has not seen it, be ready with a box of tissues....trust me!"

"Nothing tops my other favorite. “I Dreamed A Dream” is haunting and powerful and so uncannily accurate. The words “He slept a summer at my side “ so excitingly captures the love as Kirk, towel across his bare shoulders, smiles that special smile at Spock and we see the smile returned ever so slightly. “He filled my days with endless wonder….” So appropriate. Just as our hearts are warmed to the core, the scene abruptly switches to Spock’s empty chair on the bridge and the singer jars us to the soul as she declares, “but he was gone when Autumn came.” Chills me to the bone every time I hear it.

...I also think that “I Dreamed a Dream” by the late Chris Soto is an extraordinary video, cut perfectly.