#the miller’s son

[unwelcome-ephestion]

One of my recent theses is that Aspects of Love is a concept musical masquerading as a book show, which is why it is so misunderstood. I thought I would outline this thesis here.

First, it starts with Love Changes Everything. Its 2023 revival moves the song to the middle of Act 1 in order to have it sung by Michael Ball, which is a key error (Ball plays George in the revival, rather than Alex, who he originated in 1989). The song is here:

It’s quite literally a thesis on love, extraneous to the book - Alex’s naive thesis on love. What’s interesting is that it is only the first thesis on love we get. When we first meet George, Alex’s uncle, who lives hedonistically and flits between lovers just as Alex believes that Rose is his one true love, he sings this:

Life goes on, love goes free is George’s philosophy. Both of these moments are much more typical of a concept show than a book show, and seem indicative of Lloyd Webber (as book writer, though not lyricist) being inspired by the Prince era in the States, and in particular I would argue A Little Night Music, where songs like The Miller’s Son highlight philosophies of love to be analysed within the context of the show. What is interesting about Aspects is that neither Alex’s nor George’s philosophy remains unscathed. By the end of Act 1, George is married to Rose, and Alex reprises Love Changes Everything on the way to the army, to destroy himself in his loss of Rose. By the end of the second act, it is George who will have died, destroying himself over his possessive incestuous love of his daughter Jenny with Rose, and Alex who rejects both Rose and Jenny in order to flit like George did with his old lover, Giulietta. The final reprise of Love Changes Everything is crucial (and foolishly omitted from the 2023 revival!) as heard below:

Heard at 4:40 on the above track, we hear the final line twice: love will never never let you be the same. When Alex originally sang this, it was a naive take on the power of one true love. With all we know now, the song has totally changed its meaning - love has the power to bouleverse everything in your philosophy and turn you inside out, Alex into a hedonistic cynic and George a man who dies for love. The ability of the one song and lyric to develop like that over time is much cleverer than it is given credit for and one of the reasons I think it works much better in context.

Although Aspects has a quintet of lovers, the final one who experiences that true bouleversal is Rose. Rose does not outline a thesis in the same way, but she scorns Alex early in the show, telling him that if he can do one thing it is “just leave me”. Later, close to the end of Act 1, she begins to show her inability to be vulnerable when she tells George that he must promise to answer whatever she asks him with yes, and ends up marrying him. Both of these lyrical and musical motifs are repeated in the culmination of Anything But Lonely, where (from 2:44) we hear:

Rose: Just promise one thing.

Alex: Alright, what is it?

Rose: Don’t ask me questions; you must promise this.

Alex: I can’t; I must know what it is.

Rose: Don’t leave me!

Whilst Rose doesn’t have the same thesis outlined, she is proof of the same fact that love changes everything. And whilst I have criticised song placement in the 2023 production, and would also argue that it tries to sideline the more uncomfortable aspects of the show (incest and age gaps) that are actually vital to its plot, it is still up there with Oklahoma! as one of the most interesting shows currently playing in the West End and definitely requires a visit before it closes next month. Aspects of Love as a title lays out exactly what this show is - a conceptual analysis - and the show has been much maligned, I think, by being misunderstood as a traditional book musical.

[honestlysublimecherryblossom]

is it me or is there a serious lack of charlie hunnam fics?

[squilfmybeloved]

grumpy men and the feral child they found on the streets are so special to me

[mea-trinitas-profana]

being a single father is difficult

[bleuubluee]

Uni started and my laptop immediately broke on me. Great start

[texaschainsawmascara]

Charlie Hunnam, Papillon

[dootznbootz]

Hi. I'm cyberbullying a long dead poet because of his shitty fanfic. Enjoy. I'd love it if you joined me.

(Before you get mad at me, yes, I know Eugammon of Cyrene is an important figure and all that. I'm sick with some sort of flu. Let me cyberbully an ancient dead fanfic writer in peace.)

[starvingmeat]

Kazuhira Miller- pencil on paper, by me, 2024

[tortureofthedamned]

She's just joking! ❤️

She doesn't like Walt either.

[bonezjack]

HELL NAH!!! NOT MY SON!!!

[xx-midnight-candy-goblin-xx]

By Buttercup_4714 on Pinterest

Imagine if he actually did walk in on them tho 😭

[allthe-starss]

need to audition for a youtube channel on the same day as a pretty girl, tell her i'll see her at work before either of us book the job, and then experience like 7 years of pining for each other until one day we get married and break the internet. anyone interested?

[froggywentaprincin]

[moeblob]

I love Chris so much you guys.

[leodoodlesstuff]

New blorbos in your neighborhood? It’s more likely than you think!

Shop update now available, all of this, and more 👀

[ineedcoffee-sigyn]

TW! Blood, Gore, Murder

This is one aspect I decided to include into the Partner in Crime AU.

To appease his parents, Michael decided to join his father's activities, whether he likes it or not- but he can't deny it.

Making his father finally proud of him- feels good.

Bonus Video: