Why is it so moving to witness a child with rare natural talent? Whether it’s singing, problem-solving, memory recall, or visual art, a young person with innate ability seems almost celestial. Think of Michael Jackson performing at five, commanding audiences with ease. Some kids are just born with “it.”
That’s how I feel watching this performance of the Les Mis song “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” by Cormac Thompson. The kid has a heavenly talent that is hard to put into words. We could say angelic, which would be true, but it also feels cheap on its own.
Let’s start by talking about the song itself because it’s a heavy ballad, lyrically and melodically. “Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” is from the musical version of “Les Misérables,” which is, in short, about a man in 19th-century France, around the time of the French Revolution, who is jailed for nineteen years for stealing bread, and when he’s released, he finds a harsh world that isn’t willing to accept him back into society. Obviously, it touches on way more than just that. It touches on unrequited love, poverty, class, and societal hierarchies, and much more, but the point is that it’s not a super uplifting and upbeat tale.
“Empty Chairs at Empty Tables” tells the story of a young revolutionary mourning the loss of numerous friends’ lives during the massacre at the barricade, at the hands of French soldiers. As you can imagine, it’s an intensely sad scene and song.
In this video, 12-year-old Cormac Thompson stands before the microphone as the opening piano plays. “There’s a grief that can’t be spoken…” The first lines hang heavy. It’s hard to imagine a child fully grasping the weight, yet his delivery is so thoughtful and melancholy, you’d think he experienced such loss himself.
We are instantly entranced by his voice by the end of the first few lines. I’m waiting to hear each line that’s to come with baited breath. As the song builds and intensifies slowly, we get shots of a field of flowers at sunset, evoking thoughts of beauty in an ending, metaphorically represented by the sun going down on the lush and vibrantly alive scenery.
This is also where Cormac reaches up to the rafters with his falcetto, singing the line “and I can hear them now, the very words that they had sung, became their last communion, on this lonely barricade, at dawn.” Cormac’s delivery is truly a punch straight to the gut, as I feel my heart sink.
I think the juxtaposition of his young face and innocently angelic voice, paired with such a heavy story and song, creates a deep well of feeling within the listener. It makes an already sad song all the more heartwrenching.
Cormac is now 16 and though his voice has changed a bit, he is still performing and recording beautiul renditions of all sorts of songs. His channel is filled with videos from his younger years and the present. I highly recommend watching a few of his performances to get a feel for his wonderful talent. His rendition of Enya’s “May It Be” from the Lord of the Rings soundtrack is another fantastic example of his voice and range before his vocal style changed. A song he did recently that showcases his sound today is his version of Chappel Roan’s “Kaleidescope.” It’s a beautiful acoustic cover and shows he has a bright future ahead of him.