The Ballad of Anne & Mary, again
So right off let me explain that I cry all the time these days, and the fact that I cry every time I listen to The Ballad should not deter anyone from giving it a listen. Also this post is a spoiler about the ending: it's good. I just got back from a very long road trip - 70+ hours of driving all told - so of course there was sooo much media. While I know better than to listen the TBoA&M while driving (because of the crying) I figured I'd be safe throwing the songs onto my Mockery Manor playlist. The songs are awesome! So I did, and drove on my merry way, happily singing along. Until the last song. It's been a while since I listened, and I forgot that I never escape the last song.
Don't get me wrong, the last song is the huge full-cast, not sad, glorious production you'd expect. The end is so good my brain inserts fireworks behind the music. But it starts with Mary Read softly singing a version of the opening song, telling the usual story that they themself die, and Anne is never seen again. And that's how the tale will be told, if anyone tells it at all.
I've said before and I'll say again, this having a good ending was a big deal for me as a queer human (see previous post). They could have simply told the story the way historical fiction-about-fact is done and left the standard "we'll never know" intact. Nothing about this awesome musical would have suffered a bit. But, who are they to say what's true? I'm in the mood for Anne and Read to keep the happiness they knew.
That hit me square in the heart, just like it did the first time. Two years ago it was the final wrench on my heart after the big adventure, and I was again an actively sobbing mess. I realise now that what hit me was a shot line. I know in my head that it's a line that fits the song, but what my heart heard was someone with a voice that people will listen to, standing defiantly against the storm. They get the sunset, because I said so.
