One Night Only (Dreamgirls)

Dreamgirls was an enjoyable chick-flick. I was wowed by the talents of Jennifer Hudson (from American Idol), the evergreen Beyonce and Eddie Murphy (who seems to play Donkey in every movie). After a few lulls, the strongest part of the movie came in the last ~20 minutes, featuring two of the best songs: Listen and One Night Only.

The movie was based on a Broadway production. And it subscribes to the musical theater tradition of cleverly manipulating lyrics by having two versions of One Night Only. A simple change from "I" to "you" reverses the song's sentiments.

Effie sings of heart-break:

You want all my love and my devotion
You want my loving soul right on the line
I have no doubt that I could love you forever
The only trouble is, you really don't have the time

Bitter-sweetness, of fleeting love, is a flavor of soul.


In Deena's rendition, she sings:

You want all my love and my devotion
You want my loving soul right on the line
I have no doubt that I could love you forever
The only trouble is, I really don't have the time

It's a shagging song! Unrequited devotion becomes gettin' it on in a one night stand.

This subtle variation captured the contrast between Soul music (represented by Effie) and Disco (represented by Deena).