Heathcliff
By Tim Rice (words), John Farrar (music)
Cliff Richard dressed as Heathcliff introduces the story.
Cliff Richard:The story is a famous one,
Now worshipped, now dismissed;
Rehearsed and trawled for meanings[1]
That may well not exist.
The demon at the story’s heart,[2]
The cuckoo in the nest,[3]
He gives so little of himself away,
Which is the reason why you will stay:[4]
In case he falters, should betray[5]
By whom or what possessed.
These are the facts of the matter,[6]
These are the names in the case,
This is the story, the passion,
The time and place.
They’re laid[7] here before you
So judge if you can –
The devil incarnate[8] or
A misunderstood man?
His origins, his way of life,
His motives – they’re all news.[9]
No shortage of detractors[10]
To air[11] their noisy views.
The man inspires a thousand lies,
The lover takes his choice.[12]
Remaining coldly in control,
Aware that sadly, on the whole,
It is the fool who bares his soul[13]
I’ll give the man a voice!
These are the facts of the matter, etc.
The devil incarnate, etc.
These are the facts of the matter, etc.
The day they buried Catherine Earnshaw Linton there came a fall of snow and it blew bleak as winter.[14]
Priest:I am the resurrection and the life sayeth the Lord.[15] He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet through me shall he live. And he that liveth and believeth in me shall never die. I know that my redeemer liveth and that he shall stand on the latter day upon the earth. And though after skin worms destroy this body yet in my flesh shall I see God whom my eyes shall see for myself and none other. We brought nothing into this world and it is certain we can take nothing out of it. The Lord hath given and the Lord hath taken away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.
[On the screen it says: On this day was the funeral of Catherine Earnshaw Linton who died in childbirth on March 20th 1784.]
Catherine’s Voice:Heathcliff, Heathcliff, follow me Heathcliff,
I just won’t rest without you.
Priest:Earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust in sure and certain hope of the resurrection to eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.
After the mourners have gone, Heathcliff comes to Catherine’s grave.
Heathcliff:No-one can touch you now – no;
No-one can harm you, you’re finally free.
Your passion all spent,[16]
Your savage intent
To break away[17] meant to break me:
Oh Cathy – the game you played!
Oh Cathy – you’ve paid.[18]
I’ve been betrayed.
I try to find the words to justify
All that you’ve put me through:[19]
What gave you the right
To leave me?
When you, you knew, I loved you.
I pray you find some peace at last:
The sleep of the good[20]
If only you could.
Only my life remains – cold;
This is a winter will never know spring
As time and again
I try to contain
The anger and pain that you bring:
Oh Cathy my reckless one!
Oh Cathy – it’s done:
The night’s begun.
You lie so close, so calm, so motionless
I can almost believe
That you’re still in my arms,
Within me,
So near, to hear, I loved you.
I pray I find some peace at last:
The sleep of the good
If only I could.
From the day old Mr. Earnshaw brought me across the moors, a silent, frozen child to WutheringHeights, I worshipped you Cathy.
The scene changes to Heathcliff’s first arrival at Wuthering Heights.
Mr. Earnshaw:Here is your Christmas gift, a gift from God Cathy. Though it’s as dark as the devil, call it Heathcliff. Hindley, he’s your brother now.
This huddling[21] in my coat, this gypsy bundle,
In Liverpool, in squalor cast adrift,[22]
A dirty, ragged mess of desperation,
Though devil-touched[23] I took as God’s gift.
No history, no owner, rhyme nor reason,[24]
Nor explanation of his sorry state,[25]
And yet with all the fire of the survivor.[26]
I couldn’t leave it, I couldn’t leave it to its fate.[27]
Household:What are we to do with it?
Dirty, ragged, coloured breed.
Welcome it with open arms?
Welcome one more mouth to feed?
Could your own blood[28] not provide you,
With the gratitude you need?
Mr. Earnshaw:We’ll call the boy Heathcliff.
Household:Call him Heathcliff.
Mr. Earnshaw:And every man on earth conceals a secret,
On which he feeds and yet tears him apart.[29]
And this bastard child, of my own making,[30]
Will surely destroy the strongest heart.
And as you fall into the traps he sets you,
And as you’re drawn to cross his reckless line,[31]
As I watch you peer into his darkness,
I pray you’ll never search,
I pray you’ll never search for mine.[32]
Household:What are we to do with it?Etc.
Gonna call him Heathcliff.
What are we to do with it? Etc.
Heathcliff and Catherine start playing. Hindley pushes Heathcliff away.
Hindley:Keep off my sister, you gypsy bastard.
Mr. Earnshaw:Hindley! Hindley! Damn you.
Household:Why should we all tolerate illegitimate demands?[33]
Older, stronger—[34]
Years pass by:
All slips further from our hands.[35]
The scene changes to many years later: Heathcliff and Catherine are now teenagers.
Heathcliff:(To Hindley.) Give me your horse, and if you won’t I shall tell father of the thrashings you gave me lastweek. And I’ll show him my arm which is black to the shoulder.[36]
Hindley:Get off, dog!
Heathcliff:And I’ll tell how you boasted you’d turn me out of doors[37] as soon as he dies.
Hindley:Take my colt, gypsy, then. Take him and be damned. Imp of Satan![38]May he[39] break your neck. Would you take my house? Would you take my land? Take that! I’ll kick out your brains.
Household:We should deal with him in language
That the bastard understands.
Catherine:(Imitating Hindley.) Take my colt, gypsy. Take my house, take my land. On your knees, dog.
Mr. Earnshaw:You’re worse than your brother.
Catherine:It was only a game father.
Mr. Earnshaw:Why can’t you always be a good lass, Cathy?
Catherine:Why can’t you always be a good man, father?
Mr. Earnshaw:Damn you!
Mr. Earnshaw slaps Catherine. As a result of the violent emotion, he has a heart
attackand dies.
Heathcliff:He’s dead, Cathy, he’s dead.
Household:We most force this foreign devil
From this house at any price;[40]
There’s a case[41] for any measure,
Any crime or sacrifice.
Hindley:Hey luvvie duvvies,[42]WutheringHeights is mine now. (To Heathcliff.) You! Get to the back kitchen with the other servants. Or earn your keep[43] in the fields like the other hands.[44]
Catherine:(To Hindley.) Am I to be your servant too?
Hindley:You’ll have your share of my hand,[45] Cathy! You’re banished till supper time.
Heathcliff and Cathy run to each other and go up on to the moors.
Older Heathcliff:Together we raced the wild road across the hills. And together we braved the ghosts of the moors[46] to watch the setting sun from the bare masses of Penistone Crags.
Heathcliff:I shall pay Hindley back.[47] I don’t care how long I wait. I hope he won’t die before I do.
Catherine:Learn to forgive! It’s for God to punish wicked people.
Heathcliff:God won’t have the satisfaction I shall.
Catherine:Listen! They’re singing and dancing at the Grange. Come on!
The scene changes to Thrushcross Grange, where a Christmas party is taking place.
Older Heathcliff:It was beautiful. A splendid place. Carpeted with crimson and a pure whiteceiling bordered by gold. A shower of glass drops[48] hanging in silver chains from the centre and shimmeringwith little soft tapers.[49]Each Christmas the Lintons entertained, and over the years Cathy became queen of the countryside.[50]
Edgar Linton:Miss Earnshaw! Enter. (To Heathcliff.) You, gypsy, off! This is a decent house.
Isabella:(To Catherine.) Come and join our Christmas party!
Edgar:My sister, Isabella, Miss Earnshaw.
Several years pass. Catherine is gradually absorbed into the social world of the Lintons.Heathcliff is excluded.
Linton Party:God rest ye merry gentlemen,[51]
Let nothing here dismay,
Let nothing here dismay,
Merry gentlemen.
The holly and the ivy,[52]
When they are both full-grown,
Of all the trees that are in the wood,
The holly bears the crown.
The holly and the ivy.
The holly and the ivy.
Finally the older Heathcliff drags Catherine out of the Lintons’ house, but she now
rejectshim.
Heathcliff:I’m the one that loves you Cathy! I’m the one that cares!
Another day. Heathcliff is hard at work at Wuthering Heights.
Catherine:Why, how very black[53] and cross you look! And how funny and grim. But that’s because I’m used to Edgar and Isabella Linton.
Heathcliff:I shall not stand to be[54] laughed at.
Catherine:What are you so sulky for? You’d be alright if you brushed your hair and washed your face, but you’re so dirty.
Heathcliff:Oh well, you don’t have to touch me. And I shall be as dirty as I please. I like to be dirty. And I will be dirty. Where are you going?
Catherine:Nowhere.
Heathcliff:Nobody coming here I hope.
Catherine: Not that I know of. You should be in the fields now Heathcliff!
Heathcliff:I’ll not work any more today. I shall stay with you.
Catherine:Edgar and Isabella Linton talked of calling[55] this afternoon.
Heathcliff:Cathy, don’t turn me out[56] for those pitiful, silly friends of yours. (He shows her a diary.) Look, the crosses are for the evenings you spent with the Lintons and this dot is for the one you spent with me. You see I’ve marked every day.
Catherine:And should I always be sitting with you? That’s no company at all when you know nothing and say nothing.
Nothing can be permanent,
Nothing set in stone,[57]
Never try to fool yourself
That you are not alone.[58]
Know your place, don’t chance your arm,[59]
Your secrets all are known.[60]
Never cross the great divide:[61]
Each to his own.
Don’t misunderstand me, don’t be hurt, don’t take offence,
What I’m about to tell you makes a lot of sense.
I’ve been more than happy with you, loved you as you are,
But being happy only takes a restless heart so far.[62]
Be thankful for the past but know those times won’t come again;
I found you quite diverting, even tender now and then;
Remember I will always be the first to sing your praise,
But I must close the book on[63] all our adolescent days.
Nothing can be permanent,
Nothing set in stone,
Never try to fool yourself
That you’re not alone.
Know your place, don’t chance your arm,
Your secrets all are known.
Never cross the great divide:
Both:Each to his own.
Catherine:Did you really ever think we’d never drift apart?
That we’d decay together in some endless heart to heart?[64]
Did you never realise that we are not the same?
We are made what we are made –but you are not to blame.
Nothing can be permanent, etc.
Heathcliff: Nothing can be permanent,
Nothing set in stone.
Catherine: Never try to fool yourself, etc.
Heathcliff:Each to his own.
Catherine:Each to his own.
The Lintons arrive.
Catherine:Mr. Linton!
Edgar has come to propose.
Edgar:Had to be,[65]
No escape,
No room for doubt,
No way out,
Seeing you,
It was easy to decide.
Cut and dried.[66]
Had to be.
Now we know why we exist.
Don’t resist,
Don’t even think at all,
Simply fall
In love:
This is what
Had to be.┐
│
Heathcliff:Had to be!┘
She was easy to seduce.
Let her loose
In a world where the fake and shallow shine:[67]
She’ll be fine.
Had to be.
She’s a woman, nothing more,
Falling for whatever comes along.
She’s so wrong:
A fool to herself.
Had to be.
Catherine:(To Heathcliff.) Don’t try to tell me
How to live my life, tell me who I should love,
And don’t try to hold on.
You are in my past:
I am no longer tied to you.
All three:Had to be
(No-one can tell me.)
For we get what we deserve,
(How I should live my life.)
Lose your nerve,
(No-one can tell me.)
And the fates hustle in and take control[68]
(Or take control.)
Of your soul.
Had to be.
But the spark of hope[69] remains
And sustains the echo of a smile[70]
(Sustains the echo of a smile.)
For a while.
(No-one can tell me.)
We’re fools to ourselves
(No-one has told me.)
We’re fools
(Had to be.)
To ourselves.
Had to be.
Edgar:You are the reason
I am in this world.
I will be all you need,
You won’t come to grief now,[71]
You’re my every thought, every word, and my every deed.
All three:Had to be
(You are the reason.)
For we get what we deserve,
(Why I am in this world.)
Lose your nerve,
(You are the reason.)
And the fates hustle in and take control
(I’ll take control.)
Of your soul.
Had to be.
But the spark of hope remains
And sustains the echo of a smile,
For a while.
(You are the reason.)
We’re fools to ourselves.
Have to be.
(You are the reason.)
We’re fools
(It had to be.)
To ourselves.
Had to be.
Edgar proposes.
Edgar:Catherine.
Catherine:Edgar!
Edgar:Yes?
Catherine:Yes!
Edgar:Oh, yes! Oh, yes. (To Isabella.) Isabella!
Isabella:Oh Cathy!
Catherine:I shall marry Edgar Linton.
Friend:Catherine have you thought it through?[72]
Catherine:For many reasons, each sufficient.
Friend:Tell us one or two.
Catherine:He is handsome, young and cheerful.
Friend:All these things will quickly change.
Catherine:He’s a pleasant sweet companion.
Friend:And he owns the Grange.
Friends:Thrushcross Grange!
We don’t think this match[73] is viable,
Some good points are undeniable,
But you’re not known for being pliable,
By Monday[74] you’ll feel trapped.
A glorious union’s[75] inconceivable,
A short sharp shock’s far more believable,
A happier future still achievable,
This wedding must be scrapped!
This wedding must be scrapped!
Catherine:Ah but Edgar really loves me.
Friend:He says he does, that’s not the same.
Catherine:I love him and all he stands for.[76]
Friend:You just love his name.
Catherine:I love the very ground beneath him.
Friend:That’s just earth that we all tread.
Catherine:The air he breathes and all he touches.
Friends:Think of him in bed!
Touching you in bed!
We don’t think this match is suitable,
And though you try to be inscrutable,
You know at best it’s only mootable[77]
That this is mister right.[78]
You’re so wrong, and we are guessing you
Will heed our message[79] now distressing you
In nine months’ time, when he stops caressing you.
Too late you’ll see the light[80]
Too late you’ll see the light!
Catherine:I shall marry Edgar Linton!
Friend:Other handsome men exist.
Catherine:My concern is for the present.
Friend:We could make you up a list.
Catherine:Mrs. Edgar Linton!—Heaven!
Friend:Thus is paradise defined?[81]
Catherine:When he comes to me with passion—
Friends:We know who you’ll have in mind,[82]
Who you left behind,
Who you’ll have in mind!
The friends leave. Catherine thinks aloud about the two men she loves. Heathcliff
overhears her, and appalled by what he hears, runs away.
Catherine:But in my heart and in my soul I am convinced I am wrong. I have no more business marrying Edgar Linton than I have to be in Heaven.[83] And if Hindley had not brought Heathcliff so low[84] I should not have thought of it. But it would degrade me to marry Heathcliff now! So, he shall never know how I love him. He is more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same. Edgar Linton’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightening or frost from fire. If Heathcliff and I married we’d be beggars. If I were to marry Edgar Linton I can aid Heathcliff to rise[85]and place him beyond my brother’s power. My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time changes it, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath. I am Heathcliff!
Heathcliff is on a ship.
Heathcliff:I forgive what you have done to me Cathy. And I will bear my banishment alone. I swear I will see you again if I shall live and exact my revenge upon those who hate me! And I might expire with a blessing on my lips.[86]
Heathcliff travels to Africa, where he obtains gold. He then sails on.
Heathcliff:Cathy! I’d not exchange for a thousand lives my condition here with Edgar’s at the Grange – even if I might have the privilege of painting these decks with Hindley’s blood. I have but one intent: I shall return and I will be as rich as Linton!