Coal Miner's Daughter Susan Boyle Sings "I Dreamed a Dream"

Scottish phenomenon Susan Boyle sings "I Dreamed a Dream" from Les Misérables.

Susan told the host of Britain's Got Talent that she wants to be like the famous singer Elaine Page. Even though Susan was born with brain damage and struggled in school, she has managed to achieve her dream and has rocked the world with her remarkable talent.

In the semi-final round, Susan sang "Memory" from the musical Cats. If Susan wins the final round in the Britain's Got Talent competition, she will be invited to sing for Queen Elizabeth.

The Examiner (4-20-09) writes:

Britain’s Got Talent’s Susan Boyle, who has stunned viewers with her performance and her story is a phenomenon around the world, thanks to You Tube and stars like Demi Moore and Ashton Kutcher who have posted on Twitter how moved they are by her performance and story. SEE VIDEO>>>

Susan Boyle was brain damaged at birth

The 48 year old never-married Susan Boyle who lives alone with her cat Pebbles and would practice for Britain's Got Talent by holding a hairbrush in front of the mirror in the room she has lived in since childhood, spent the last 2 years grieving after spending her adult life caring for her aged Mother. Boyle, who was born with minor brain damage from being starved of oxygen at birth, suffered with learning difficulties and bullying as a child (they called her Susie Simple), has admitted that she has never been kissed. And has only one dream – to sing- and now it seems her dream has been realized.

Dr. Robert Canfield writes in his piece called Susan Boyle And The Power Of The Moral Imagination:

"It was easy to regard this woman as tragically unaware of her own limitations, with aspirations that surpassed her ability...Here was a disaster in the making. This would be difficult to watch....Her first note changed everything. The audience was electrified. As she sang they began to cheer. One of the judges, a gorgeous blond, folded her hands and held them up to her face, as if hoping desperately, praying, for this woman not to stumble...Some people wept."

If only we could only be like Susan Boyle in our best moments

A coal-miner’s daughter, Susan Boyle has lived in the same village in Scotland her entire life is an inspiration to us all. Let us not be the cynical, all-knowing and judgmental lot we often are but give others and more importantly ourselves a chance at success, at happiness. Sure, there is a lot to be depressed about, but when you listen to this woman, one Susan Boyle, sing her heart out and put herself on the line, it is like the weight is instantly lifted and we suddenly remember what it is like to have a dream and see that dream come true.

Here are the lyrics of “I Dream a Dream” from Les Misérables (AKA Les Mis or Les Miz):

There was a time when men were kind
When their voices were soft
And their words inviting
There was a time when love was blind
And the world was a song
And the song was exciting
There was a time
Then it all went wrong.
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high
And life worth living.

I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving
Then I was young and unafraid
When dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted.
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
As they tear your hopes apart
And they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side
He filled my days with endless wonder
He took my childhood in his stride
But he was gone when autumn came.
And still I dream he’ll come to me
That we will live the years together
But there are dreams that cannot be
And there are storms we cannot weather.

I had a dream my life would be
So different from this hell I’m living
So different now from what it seems
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed.

Dr. Robert Canfield writes:

"Always it is something outside ourselves that touches us, somehow, where we feel most deeply. At such moments we remember that we are humans - not merely creatures, but human beings, profoundly and deeply shaped by a moral sensibility so powerful that it breaks through our inhibitors; it can burst out, explode into public view, to our own astonishment."

Simon Cowell is reportedly offering her a BMG deal, according to the Daily Mail. We are all thrilled for Susan and some of us are happy to be living vicariously through this unexpected hero.