In 2004, Michele played "Shprintze" and "Chava" in the Broadway revival of the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Regionally, she has appeared in the title role in The Diary of Anne Frank.
Since the age of 14, she played the role of Wendla in Steven Sater and Duncan Sheik's musical version of Spring Awakening since early workshops; following it up to the Broadway production. Around the same time the show was set to go to Broadway, she was given the role of Eponine in the Broadway revival of Les Misérables. She chose to remain with Spring Awakening, which debuted on Broadway December 10, 2006. Michele was nominated for a Drama Desk Award for her performance in Spring Awakening, as Lead Actress in a Musical.
On May 18, 2008, Michele left Spring Awakening with co-star Jonathan Groff and was replaced by former Wendla understudy Alexandra Socha. She performed in a reading of Sheik and Sater's new musical, Nero, in July 2008 at Vassar College, also featuring Idina Menzel and Michael Arden. On August 8, 9 and 10, 2008, Michele portrayed Eponine in the Hollywood Bowl's Les Misérables concert.
Michele can be heard on the original Broadway cast recordings of Ragtime and Spring Awakening, as well as the 2003 revival recording of Fiddler on the Roof.
Michele starred in the Fox television show Glee, where she played the star female singer of a high school glee club, Rachel Berry. The pilot aired on May 19, 2009, and the show aired on Thursday nights on FOX. The show ended after 6 seasons on March 20, 2015.
Lea Michele will be making her public debut as Fanny Brice in Broadway’s Funny Girl on September 6th, 2022
Thousand Needles
Lea Michele Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tornado sweep me off the floor
See only darker skies in sight
You wanna know what's that like
Like thousand needles in my heart
Whenever time sets us apart
And now my world just crashing down
Now that I can't have you around
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
Running fast in hell in rain
The summer tell me I'm insane
Throw a reason out the door
Will make a difference no more
A thousand needles in my heart
Show me the painful from the start
You're wasted, not packing our day
The day before you walked away
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
(A thousand needles in my heart)
(A thousand needles in my heart)
(A thousand needles in my heart)
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm bleeding
I can see you're now in shades of grey
My memory fading
In "Thousand Needles," Lea Michele sings about heartbreak and the pain of a broken relationship. The lyrics depict a sense of helplessness and confusion experienced during the aftermath of a failed relationship. The beginning lines "waves are breaking in a storm, tornado sweep me off the floor" signify a tumultuous time in her life. The song uses the metaphor of a thousand needles in the heart to express the hurt and ache of losing someone you love. The line "you wanna know what's that like" suggests that the person she is addressing has never experienced the same level of pain that she is going through.
The second verse of the song continues with the metaphor of needles in the heart, but the lyrics shift to her feeling insane and running fast in the rain. Michele struggles to find reason or logic for her pain and further expresses her frustration with the line "throw a reason out the door, will make a difference no more." The bridge of the song repeats the same lyrics, "oh why you wanna break away, I'm bleeding," emphasizing the deep anguish and desperation for the relationship not to end.
Overall, "Thousand Needles" is a powerful song that effectively conveys the pain and confusion that accompanies heartbreak. It is a representation of the struggle that many individuals experience during the aftermath of a failed relationship.
Line by Line Meaning
Waves are breaking in a storm
My emotions feel tumultuous, like rough waves in a violent storm.
Tornado sweep me off the floor
My heart is in chaos, and I feel swept up and carried away like a tornado.
See only darker skies in sight
The future seems bleak, and I can only see darkness ahead of me.
You wanna know what's that like
You want to understand what I'm going through.
Like thousand needles in my heart
The pain of our separation feels like a thousand sharp needles piercing my heart.
Whenever time sets us apart
Every time we are separated, the pain intensifies.
And now my world just crashing down
Without you, my world is collapsing and falling apart.
Now that I can't have you around
The pain is even worse knowing that I can't have you by my side.
Oh why you wanna break away
I'm struggling to understand why you wanted to end things between us.
I'm bleeding
My heart is hurting and I feel like I'm losing a part of myself.
I can see you're now in shades of grey
I can tell that you've changed and that things are no longer black and white between us.
My memory fading
My memories of us together are starting to fade and become hazy.
Running fast in hell in rain
I feel like I'm running through a hellish storm, with rain pouring down on me.
The summer tell me I'm insane
Even in the warmth of summer, my feelings and thoughts are driving me crazy.
Throw a reason out the door
Throwing logic and reason out the door hasn't solved anything for me.
Will make a difference no more
No matter what I do or say, it won't make a difference in how you feel.
Show me the painful from the start
I'm reminded of the pain of our separation from the very beginning of our relationship.
You're wasted, not packing our day
You didn't appreciate the time we spent together and wasted it instead of cherishing it.
The day before you walked away
Things seemed fine between us the day before you ended our relationship.
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALI PAYAMI, LO TOVE
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind