Another try, another night

I just wanted another try
I just wanted another night......

I can't describe how much these two lines from Julie Delpy's "A Waltz For A Night" really get to me. There's something about the way she sings those two particular lines, something about the way those two lines are particularly lifted into the modulated minor key. The song, fittingly, has no chorus, for in essence it is a song which is, simply and calmly, narrating an unended love story. Instead, the structure of the song is made up of beautiful modulations between its main theme in major key and a lovely four-bar chromatic melody which it will suddenly slip into on the song's emotional high points - in its moments of confession, anguish, love, regret:

"You were for me that night... (everything I always dreamt of in life)"...

"It was for you just a one-night thing... (but you were much more to me, just so you know...)"

"One single night with you, little Jesse... (is worth a thousand with anybody...)"

"Even tomorrow in other arms... (my heart will stay yours until I die...)"

But the modulation of "I just wanted another try, I just wanted another night......" is different. For one, it extends the minor modulation from four bars to eight. For another, it signals a subtle change in the general ethos of the song - from understated love, regret and memory into a more poignant cry. But most of all, these two lines signify to me something infinitely more significant: hope. Another try, another night. Hope translates to desire ("isn't the lack of desire a symptom of depression?"), desire translates to action, action translates to a future.

Is that why I'm so moved, so caught, by those two lines of lyrics? In Jean Anouilh's play, Antigone screams, "hope is a whore". Perhaps that's why she died. And perhaps that's why Celine will continue dancing, and Jesse will continue watching her, his eyes filled with love.