Down Once More/Track Down This Murderer Lyrics – Phantom of the Opera, The

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Michael Crawford, Sarah Brightman, Steve Barton & Mary Millar
• Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Composers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Charles Hart, Richard Stilgoe
• Release Date: October 9, 1986
• Album: The Phantom of the Opera – Original 1986 London Cast
• Track #: 21 (Finale)
• Genre: West End Musical / Symphonic Rock Opera
• Language: English
• Label: The Really Useful Group Ltd. / Polydor
• Instrumentation: Full orchestra, pipe organ, choir, percussive timpani, synth pads
• Copyright © 1986 The Really Useful Group Ltd.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Picture a velvet curtain gasping its last breath. That’s where “Down Once More / Track Down This Murderer” barges in. At this point the musical has spun chandeliers, waltzed masks, and flirted with forbidden lessons—yet nothing feels as raw as the mad dash to the Phantom’s echoing lair. The orchestra slams minor-key triplets like iron gates, and Webber’s pipe organ rumbles low enough to dislodge your fillings. All the tender motifs from earlier numbers snap into survival mode.

The structure is almost cinematic: three narratives run on parallel rails—the Phantom’s self-pitying soliloquy, the righteous mob chant, and Raoul’s frantic rescue. It’s a sonic sandwich where serenity never quite reaches the bread. West End bombast meets gothic prog-rock swagger, with percussion crashes that mimic torches hitting stone corridors.

Lyrically, the piece is drenched in primal questions: justice versus mercy, beauty versus deformity, the price of love. Christine stands centre-stage, forced to choose between her fiancé’s windpipe and the loneliness behind a mask. If earlier songs flirt with fairy-tale mystique, this finale rips the veil: obsession stinks, compassion hurts, courage tastes like iron.

And that variable refrain—Your hand at the level of your eyes!—functions like a DIY horror manual, reminding the audience that showbiz glamour and real-life danger share the same hallway.

Down once more to the dungeon of my black despair!
Down we plunge to the prison of my mind!

The Phantom’s Descent – Self-Indictment in B-Minor

Notice how the melody pivots on diminished sevenths each time he spits the word “down.” The harmony sinks exactly as his psyche does, a text-painting trick borrowed from Wagner and spliced with Broadway pacing.

The Mob – Greek Chorus in Hard-Hat Helmets

Track down this murderer, he must be found!

Here Webber whips up a galvanic dotted-rhythm chant, almost a proto-football-stadium roar. The collective voice condemns what society cannot tolerate—otherness. Cue delicious dissonances between tenor and bass lines, signalling moral ambiguity beneath the surface rage.

Christine’s Choice – Compassion as Weapon

Pitiful creature of darkness / What kind of life have you known?

Her melody rises a perfect fifth on “courage,” bright enough to slice through the gloom. It’s the score’s final act of defiance against nihilism; a kiss becomes the literal suspension of the Punjab lasso, love disabling violence.

Similar Songs

1. “The Point of No Return” – Michael Crawford & Sarah Brightman
   Just three tracks earlier, this duet flirts with sensual boundaries, foreshadowing the ultimatum that detonates in “Down Once More.” Both numbers share a tango-inflected undercurrent and an ominous descending bass-line. Yet where “Point” smoulders, “Down” combusts—same ingredients, different flame.
2. “Confrontation” – Jekyll & Hyde Original Cast
   Another late-show fireworks display pitting dual identities against public outrage. Orchestral swells, belted high notes, and moral fist-fighting abound. Both songs transform inner turmoil into external spectacle, though “Confrontation” is a solo duel while our featured track throws in an entire mob for seasoning.
3. “Finale Ultimo” – Les Misérables Original London Cast
   Both finales wield choral power and thematic reprises to yank tears. Where “Les Mis” offers collective redemption, “Down Once More” leaves us in psychological rubble. Yet the shared recipe of reprise, crowd vocals, and tragic resolve makes them musical theatre cousins.

Questions and Answers

Why does Madame Giry repeat “hand at the level of your eyes”?

It’s a survival tip against the Phantom’s lasso. Raising the arm blocks the noose. Dramatically, it echoes like a superstition turned chant, heightening the suspense.

Is the Phantom truly willing to kill Raoul?

Yes and no. His threat feels genuine, yet the subsequent surrender suggests he’s testing Christine’s capacity for empathy rather than craving actual bloodshed.

What key is the majority of the finale in?

Mostly B-minor, with brief forays into E-minor and D-major during Christine’s compassionate lines. These modulations spotlight each character’s emotional register.

How many reprises appear within this number?

Three: “Angel of Music,” “Masquerade,” and a fragment of “Point of No Return.” They function as ghostly callbacks, reminding us the past refuses to stay buried.

Does Christine’s kiss redeem the Phantom?

Musically, the kiss resolves a dissonant chord into consonance, suggesting momentary redemption. Narratively, it sparks his decision to free the couple and vanish, implying partial transformation, not absolution.

Awards and Chart Positions

The cast album housing this finale clinched the 1988 Grammy for Best Cast Show Album and remains one of the top-selling theatrical recordings, certified multi-platinum in both the UK and US. While the track itself never charted separately, its climactic stature helped solidify the show’s 1988 Tony win for Best Musical.

Fan and Media Reactions

Thirty-plus years on, listeners still debate whether compassion or fear drives Christine’s decision. Sampling recent comment threads yields glowing—and goosebump-laden—testimonials:

“That final organ chord rattled my car windows on the motorway—zero regrets.” — @SopranoSpeedster

“Crawford’s growl on ‘black despair’ is the sound of every teenage angst diary I ever kept.” — @VintagePhan

“Mary Millar’s Giry: proof that six words shouted in octaves can jack up your heart rate.” — @ChoralNerd42

“The mob chant feels eerily modern—cancel culture in 19th-century Paris.” — @CultureCriticDaily

“My smartwatch thought I was sprinting during the kiss—Webber owes me new cardio records.” — @StepCountSlinger

Critics echo the fervour: The Times hailed the scene as “grand guignol with an orchestra pit,” while Rolling Stone praised its “prog-opera audacity—Queen with a Gothic novel in its back pocket.” Even Andrew Lloyd Webber, in a 2020 podcast, admitted, “If the audience doesn’t feel morally queasy by the final chord, we’ve done something wrong.”