Les Miserables

ACT 1

PROLOGUE (WORK SONG)

CHAIN GANG

Look down, look down

Don’t look ’em in the eye

Look down, look down

You’re here until you die.

The sun is strong

It’s hot as hell below

Look down, look down

There’s twenty years to go.

I’ve done no wrong

Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer

Look down, look down

Sweet Jesus doesn’t care

I know she’ll wait

I know that she’ll be true

Look down, look down

They’ve all forgotten you

When I get free

You won’t see me

Here for dust

Look down, look down

Don’t look ’em in the eye.

How long, 0 Lord,

Before you let me die?

Look down, look down

You’ll always be a slave

Look down, look down,

You’re standing in your grave.

JAVERT

Now bring me prisoner 24601

Your time is up

And your parole’s begun

You know what that means,

VALJEAN

Yes, it means I’m free.

JAVERT

No! It means You get

Your yellow ticket-of-leave

You are a thief.

VALJEAN

I stole a loaf of bread.

JAVERT

You robbed a house.

VALJEAN

I broke a window pane.

My sister’s child was close to death

And we were starving.

JAVERT

You will starve again

Unless you learn the meaning of the law.

VALJEAN

I know the meaning of those 19 years

A slave of the law.

JAVERT

Five years for what you did

The rest because you tried to run

Yes, 24601.

VALJEAN

My name is Jean Valjean.

JAVERT

And I’m Javert

Do not forget my name

Do not forget me

24601.

ON PAROLE / THE BISHOP

VALJEAN

Freedom is mine. The earth is still.

I feel the wind. I breathe again

And the sky clears

The world is waking

Drink from the pool. How clean the taste

Never forget the years, the waste

Nor forgive them

For what they’ve done

They are the guilty—every one

The day begins

And now let’s see

What this new world

Will do for me

EMPLOYER

You’ll have to go

I’ll pay you off for the day

Collect your bits and pieces there

And be on your way

VALJEAN

You have given me half

What the other men get

This handful of tin

Wouldn’t buy my sweat

LABORER

You’ve broke the law

It’s there for people to see

Why should you get the same

As honest men like me.

VALJEAN

And now I know how freedom feels

The jailer always at your heels.

It is the law

This piece of paper in my hand

That makes me cast throughout the land.

It is the law

Like a cur

I walk the street

The dirt beneath their feet.

BISHOP

Come in, Sir, for you are weary

And the night is cold out there

Though our lives are very humble

What we have we have to share

There is wine here to revive you

There is bread to make you strong

There’s a bed to rest till morning

Rest from pain, and rest from wrong

VALJEAN

He let me eat my fill

I have the lion’s share

The silver in my hand

Cost twice what I had earned

In all those nineteen years

That lifetime of despair

And yet he trusted me

The old fool trusted me

He’d done his bit of good

I played the grateful serf

And thanked him like I should

And when the house was still

I got up in the night

Took the silver

Took my flight!

CONSTABLES

Tell His Reverence your story.

Let us see if he’s impressed.

You were lodging here last night.

You were the honest Bishop’s guest.

And then, out of Christian goodness.

When he learned about your plight

You maintain he made a present of this silver

BISHOP

That is right.

But my friend, you left so early

Surely something slipped your mind.

You forgot I gave these also

Would you leave the best behind?

So, Messieurs, you may release him

For this man has spoken true.

I commend you for your duty

And God’s blessing go with you.

But remember this, my brother

See in this some higher plan.

You must use this precious silver

To become an honest man.

By the witness of the martyrs

By the Passion and the Blood

God has raised you out of darkness

I have bought your soul for God!

VALJEAN’S SOLILOQUY

VALJEAN

What have I done?

Sweet Jesus, what have I done?

Become a thief in the night!

Become a dog on the run!

And have I fallen so far

And is the hour so late

That nothing remains but the cry of my hate,

The cries in the dark that nobody hears

Here where I stand at the turning of the years?

If there’s another way to go

I missed it twenty long years ago.

My life was a war that could never be won

They gave me a number and murdered Valjean

When they chained Me and left me for dead

Just for stealing a mouthful of bread.

Yet why did I allow this man

To touch my soul and teach me love?

He treated me like any other.

He gave me his trust.

He called me Brother.

My life he claims for God above.

Can such things be?

For I had come to hate the world.

This world that always hated me!

Take an eye for an eye.

Turn your heart into stone.

This is all I have lived for.

This is all I have known.

One word from him and I’d be back

Beneath the lash, upon the rack.

Instead, he offers me my freedom.

I feel my shame inside me like a knife.

He told me that I have a soul.

How does he know?

What spirit comes to move my life?

Is there another way to go?

I am reaching, but I fall,

And the night is closing in,

And I stare into the void —

To the whirlpool of my sin.

I’ll escape now from the world

From the world of Jean Valjean

Jean Valjean is nothing now.

Another story must begin!

AT THE END OF THE DAY

THE POOR

At the end of the day you’re another day older

And that’s all you can I say for the life of the poor

It’s a struggle, it’s a war

And there’s nothing that anyone’s giving

One more day standing about

What is it for?

One day less to be living!

At the end of the day you’re another day colder

And the shirt on your back doesn’t keep out the chill

And the righteous hurry past

They don’t hear the little ones crying

And the winter is coming on fast

Ready to kill

One day nearer to dying!

At the end of the day there’s another day dawning

And the sun in the morning is waiting to rise

Like the waves crash on the sand

Like a storm that’ll break any second

There’s a hunger in the land

There’s a reckoning still to be reckoned and

There’s gonna be hell to pay

At the end of the day!

FOREMAN

At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing

Sitting flat on your butt doesn’t buy any bread.

WORKERS

There are children back at home

And the children have got to be fed

And you’re lucky to be in a job

And in a bed

And we’re counting our blessings!

WOMEN

Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today

With his terrible breath and his wandering hands?

It’s because little Fantine won’t give him his way

Take a look at his trousers, you see where he stands!

WORKERS

At the end of the day it’s another day over

With enough in your pocket to last for a week

Pay the landlord, pay the shop

Keep on grafting as long as you’re able

Keep on grafting till you drop

Or it’s back to the crumbs off the table

You’ve got to pay your way

At the end of the day!

GIRL

And what have we here, little innocent sister?

Come on Fantine let’s have all the news

“Ooh…dear Fantine, you must send us more money …

your child needs a doctor … There’s no time to lose … “

FANTINE

Give that letter to me

It is none of your business

With a husband at home

And a bit on the side

Is there anyone here

Who can swear before God

She has nothing to fear

She has nothing to hide?

VALJEAN

What is this fighting all about?

Will someone tear these two apart

This is a factory, not a circus.

Now, come on ladies, settle down

I run a business of repute

I am the Mayor of this town

I look to you to sort this out

And be as patient as you can.

FOREMAN

Now someone say how this began!

GIRL

At the end of the day

She’s the one who began it,

There’s a kid that she’s hiding

In some little town.

There’s a man she has to pay

You can guess how she picks up the extra.

You can bet she’s earning her keep

Sleeping around

And the boss wouldn’t like it!

FANTINE

Yes it’s true there’s a child

And the child is my daughter

And her father abandoned us

Leaving us flat.

Now she lives with an innkeeper man

And his wife

And I pay for the child.

What’s the matter with that?

WOMEN

At the end of the day

She’ll be nothing but trouble

And there’s trouble for all

When there’s trouble for one!

While we’re earning our daily bread

She’s the one with her hands in the butter

You must send the slut away

Or we’re all gonna end in the gutter

And it’s us who’ll have to pay

At the end of the day!

FOREMAN

I might have known the bitch could bite

I might have known the cat had claws

I might have guessed your little secret.

Ah yes, the virtuous Fantine

Who keeps herself so pure and clean

You’d be the cause, I had no doubt

Of any trouble hereabout

You play a virgin in the light

But need no urgin’ in the night!

GIRL

She’s been laughing at you

While she’s having her men.

WOMEN

She’ll be nothing but trouble again and again.

WOMAN

You must sack her today.

ALL WORKERS

Sack the girl today

FOREMAN

Right my girl. On your way!

I DREAMED A DREAM

FANTINE

There was time when men were kind.

When their voices were soft

And their words inviting.

There was a time when love was blind

And the world was a song

And the song was exciting.

There was a time.

Then it all went wrong.

I dreamed a dream in time gone by

When hope was high

And life worth living

I dreamed that love would never die

I dreamed that God would be forgiving.

Then I was young and unafraid

And dreams were made and used

And wasted

There was no ransom to be paid

No song unsung

No wine untasted.

But the tigers come at night

With their voices soft as thunder

As they tear your hope apart

As they turn your dream to shame.

He slept a summer by my side

He filled my days

With endless wonder

He took my childhood in his stride

But he was gone when autumn came.

And still I dream he’ll come to me

That we will live the years together

But there are dreams that cannot be

And there are storms

We cannot weather . . .

I had a dream my life would be

So different from this hell I’m living

So different now from what it seemed

Now life has killed

The dream I dreamed.

LOVELY LADIES

SAILORS

I smell women

Smell ’em in the air.

Think I’ll drop my anchor

In that harbor over there.

Lovely ladies

Smell ’em through the smoke

Seven days at sea

Can make you hungry for a poke.

Even stokers need a little stoke!

WHORE

Lovely ladies

Waiting for a bite

Waiting for the customers

Who only come at night

Lovely ladies

Ready for the call

Standing up or lying down

Or any way at all.

Bargain prices up against the wall,

CRONE

What pretty hair!

What pretty locks you got there.

What luck you got. It’s worth a centime, my dear

I’ll take the lot.

FANTINE

Don’t touch me. Leave me alone.

CRONE

Let’s make a price. I’ll give you all of ten francs.

Just think of that!

FANTINE

It pays a debt.

CRONE

Just think of that!

FANTINE

What can I do? It pays a debt

Ten francs may save my poor Cosette!

WHORES

Old men, young men, take ’em as they come,

Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum.

Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land,

See them with their trousers off they’re never quite as grand

All it takes is money in your hand!

Lovely ladies

Going for a song

Got a lot of callers

But they never stay for long.

FANTINE

Come on, Captain, you can wear your shoes

Don’t it make a change

To have a girl who can’t refuse?

Easy money

Lying on a bed.

Just is well they never see the hate

That’s in your head!

Don’t they know

They’re making love to one already dead!

FANTINE’S ARREST

SAILOR

Here’s something new, I think I’ll give it a try

Come closer, you!

I like to see what I buy…

The usual price

For just one slice of your pie

FANTINE

I don’t want you

No, no M’sieur let me go

SAILOR

Is this a trick? I won’t pay more!

FANTINE

No, no, not at all

SAILOR

You’ve got some nerve, you little whore

You’ve got some gall.

It’s the same with a tart

As it is with a grocer—

The customer sees what he gets in advance

It’s not for the whore to say ‘yes sir’ or ’no sir’

It’s not for the harlot to pick or to choose or to lead in the dance

FANTINE

I’ll kill you, you bastard

Try any of that!

Even a whore who has gone to the bird

Won’t be had by a rat

JAVERT

Tell me quickly what’s the story?

Who saw what, and why, and where?

Let him a give a full description

Let him answer to Javert!

In this nest of whores and vipers

Let one speak who saw it all

Who laid hands on this good man here?

What’s the substance of this brawl?

SAILOR

Javert, would you believe it—

I was crossing from the park

When this prostitute attacked me

You can see she left her mark

JAVERT

She will answer for her actions

When you make a full report

You may rest assured, M’sieur

That she will answer to the court

FANTINE

There’s a child who sorely needs me

Please, M’sieur, she’s but ’that high’

Holy God, is there no mercy?

If I go to jail she’ll die!

JAVERT

I have heard such protestations

Every day for twenty years

Let’s have no more explanations

Save your breath, and save your tears’ honest work.

Just reward.

That’s the way to please the lord.

VALJEAN

A moment of your time, Javert

I do believe this woman’s tale

JAVERT

But M’sieur Mayor!

VALJEAN

You’ve done your duty, let her be

She needs a doctor, not a jail

JAVERT

But M’sieur Mayor

VALJEAN

Where will she end

This child without a friend?

I’ve seen your face before

Show me some way to help you

How have you come to grief

In such a place as this?

FANTINE

M’sieur, don’t mock me now I pray

It’s hard enough, I’ve lost my pride

You let your foreman send me away

Yes you were there and turned aside

I never did no wrong!

VALJEAN

Is it true what I’ve done?

FANTINE

My daughter’s close to dying…

VALJEAN

To an innocent soul?

FANTINE

If there’s a god above

VALJEAN

Had I only known then…

FANTINE

He’d let me die instead

VALJEAN

In his name my task has just begun. I will see it done

JAVERT

But M’sieur Mayor

VALJEAN

I will see it done

THE RUNAWAY CART

JAVERT

Can this be true?

I don’t believe what I see

A man your age

To be as strong as you are

A mem’ry stirs

You make me think of a man

From years ago

A man who broke his parole

He disappeared

Forgive me, sir

I would not dare

VALJEAN

Say what you must

Don’t leave it there

JAVERT

I have only known one other

Who can do what you have done

He’s a convict from the chain gang

He’s been ten years on the run

But he couldn’t run forever

We have found his hide-away

And he’s just been rearrested

And he comes to court today

But, of course, he now denies it—

You’d expect that of a ‘con’

But he couldn’t run forever

No, not even Jean Valjean!

WHO AM I? — THE TRIAL

VALJEAN

He thinks that man is me

He knew him at a glance!

That stranger he has found

This man could be my chance!

Why should I save his hide?

Why should I right this wrong

When I have come so far

And struggled for so long?

If I speak, I am condemned

If I stay silent, I am damned!

I am the master of hundreds of workers.

They all look to me.

Can I abandon them?

How would they live

If I am not free

If I speak, I am condemned.

If I stay silent, I am damned!

Who am I?

Can I condemn this man to slavery?

Pretend I do not see his agony?

This innocent who bears my face

Who goes to judgment in my place.

Who am I?

Can I conceal myself for evermore?

Pretend I’m not the man I was before?

And must my name until I die

Be no more than an alibi?

Must I lie?

How can I ever face my fellow men?

How can I ever face myself again?

My soul belongs to God, I know

I made that bargain long ago

He gave me hope when hope was gone

He gave me strength to journey on

Who am I? Who am I?

I am Jean Valjean!

And so, Javert, you see it’s true

That man bears no more guilt than you!

Who am I?

24601!

FANTINE’S DEATH

FANTINE

Cosette, it’s turned so cold

Cosette, it’s past your bed time!

You’ve played the day away

And soon it will be night.

Come to me. Cosette, the light is fading

Don’t you see the evening star appearing?

Come to me and rest against my shoulder

How fast the minutes fly away and every minute colder.

Hurry near, another day is dying

Don’t you hear the winter wind is crying?

There’s a darkness which comes without a warning

But I will sing you lullabies and wake you in the morning.

VALJEAN

Oh, Fantine, our time is running out

But, Fantine, I swear this on my life.

FANTINE

Look, M’sieur, where all the children play.

VALJEAN

Be at peace, be at peace evermore.

FANTINE

My Cosette …

VALJEAN

Shall live in my protection.

FANTINE

Take her now

VALJEAN

Your child will want for nothing.

FANTINE

Good M’sieur, you come from God in heaven.

VALJEAN

And none will ever harm Cosette

As long as I am living.

FANTINE

Take my hand

The night grows ever colder.

VALJEAN

Then I will keep you warm.

FANTINE

Take my child

I give her to your keeping.

VALJEAN

Take shelter from the storm.

FANTINE

For God’s sake, please stay till I am sleeping

And tell Cosette I love her

And I’ll see her when I wake …

THE CONFRONTATION

JAVERT

Valjean, at last.

We see each other plain

‘M’sieur le Mayor’.

You’ll wear a different chain!

VALJEAN

Before you say another word, Javert

Before you chain me up like a slave again

Listen to me. There is something I must do.

This woman leaves behind a suffering child.

There is none but me who can intercede.

In mercy’s name, three days are all I need

Then I’ll return. I pledge my word.

Then I’ll return . . .

JAVERT

You must think me mad!

I’ve hunted you across the years.

Men like you can never change.

A man such as you.

VALJEAN

Believe of me what you will

There is a duty that I’m sworn to do

You know nothing of my life

All I did was steal some bread

You know nothing of the world

You would sooner see me dead

But not before I see this justice done.

I am warning you, Javert

I’m a stronger man by far

There is power in me yet

My race is not yet run

I am warning you, Javert

There is nothing I won’t dare

If I have to kill you here.

I’ll do what must be done

JAVERT

Men like me can never change.

Men like you can never change.

No. 24601

My duty’s to the law

You have no rights

Come with me. 24601

Now the wheel has turned around

Jean Valjean is nothing now

Dare you talk to me of crime

And the price you had to pay

Every man is born in sin

Every man must choose his way

You know nothing of Javert

I was born inside a jail

I was born with scum like you

I am from the gutter too.

VALJEAN

And this I swear to you tonight

JAVERT

There is no place for you to hide.

VALJEAN

Your child will live within my care.

JAVERT

Wherever you may hide away.

VALJEAN

And I will raise her to the light.

VALJEAN & JAVERT

I swear to you. I will be there!

CASTLE ON A CLOUD

YOUNG COSETTE

There is a castle on a cloud

I like to go there in my sleep

Aren’t any floors for me to sweep

Not in my castle on a cloud.

There is a room that’s full of toys

There are a hundred boys and girls

Nobody shouts or talks too loud

Not in my castle on a cloud.

There is a lady all in white

Holds me and sings a lullaby

She’s nice to see

And she’s soft to touch

She says: ‘Cosette I love you very much’.

I know a place where no one’s lost

I know a place where no one cries

Crying at all is not allowed

Not in my castle on a cloud.

Oh help! I think I hear them now, and I’m nowhere near

finished sweeping and scrubbing and polishing the floor.

Oh, it’s her! It’s Madame!

MADAM THENARDIER

Now look, who’s here!

The little madam herself

Pretending once again she’s being so awfully good!

Better not let me catch you slacking

Better not catch my eye

Ten rotten francs your mother sends me

What is that going to buy

Now take that pail

My little ‘Mademoiselle’

And go draw some water from the well

We should never have taken you in in the first place

How stupid the things we do

Like mother, like daughter, the scum of the streets

Still there, Cosette?

Your tears will do you no good!

I told you fetch some water from the well in the wood…

COSETTE

Please do not send me out alone

Not in the darkness on my own.

MADAM THENARDIER

Enough of that or I’ll forget to be nice!

You heard me ask for something and I never ask twice!

MASTER OF THE HOUSE

THENARDIER

Welcome, M’sieur

Sit yourself down

And meet the best

Innkeeper in town.

As for the rest.

All of them crooks

Rooking the guest

And cooking the books.

Seldom do you see

Honest men like me

A gent of good intent

Who’s content to be

Master of the house

Doling out the charm

Ready with a handshake

And an open palm

Tells a saucy tale

Makes a little stir

Customers appreciate a bon-viveur

Glad to do my friends a favor

Doesn’t cost me to be nice

But nothing gets you nothing

Everything has got a little price!

Master of the house

Keeper of the zoo

Ready to relieve ’em

Of a sou, or two.

Watering the wine

Making up the weight

Picking up their knickknacks

When they can’t see straight

Everybody loves landlord

Everybody’s bosom friend

I do whatever pleases

Jesus, Won’t I bleed ’em in the end!

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Master of the house

Quick to catch your eye

Never wants a passer-by

To pass him by

Servant to the poor

Butler to the great

Comforter. philosopher

And lifelong mate!

Everybody’s boon companion

Everybody’s chaperone

THENARDIER

But lock up your valises

Jesus! Won’t I skin you to the bone!

Enter. M’sieur

Lay down yer load

Unlace yer boots

And rest from the road

This weighs a ton

Travel’s a curse

But here we strive

To lighten your purse.

Here the goose is cooked

Here the fat is fried

And nothing’s overlooked

Till I’m satisfied

Food beyond compare

Food beyond belief

Mix it in a mincer

And pretend it’s beef

Kidney of a horse

Liver of a cat

Filling up the sausages

With this and that!

Residents are more than welcome

Bridal suite is occupied!

Reasonable charges

Plus some little extras on the side!

Charge ’em for the lice

Extra for the mice

Two per cent for looking in the mirror twice.

Here a little slice

There a little cut

Three per cent for sleeping with the window shut.

When it comes to fixing prices

There are lots of tricks he knows

How it all increases

All those bits and pieces

Jesus! It’s amazing how it grows!

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Master of the house

Quick to catch your eye

Never wants a passer-by to pass him by

Servant to the poor

Butler to the great

Comforter, philosopher

And life-long mate

Everybody’s boon companion

Gives ’em everything he’s got.

THENARDIER

Dirty bunch of geezers

Jesus! What a sorry little lot!

MADAME THENARDIER

I used to dream

That I would meet a prince.

But God Almighty.

Have you seen what’s happened since?

‘Master of the house’?

Isn’t worth me spit!

‘Comforter, philosopher’

—and lifelong shit’

Cunning little brain

Regular Voltaire

Thinks he’s quite a lover

But there’s not much there.

What a cruel trick of nature

Landed me with such a louse

God knows how I’ve lasted

Living with this bastard in the house!

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Master of the house

MADAME THENARDIER

Master and a half.

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Comforter, philosopher.

MADAME THENARDIER

Don’t make me laugh

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Servant to the poor

Butler to the great

MADAME THENARDIER

Hypocrite and toady

And inebriate!

THENARDIER & CHORUS

Everybody bless the landlord!

Everybody bless his spouse!

THENARDIER

Everybody raise a glass

MADAME THENARDIER

Raise it up the master’s ass.

ALL

Everybody raise a glass ta the master of the house.

THE BARGAIN — WALTZ OF TREACHERY

VALJEAN

I found her wandering in the woods

This little child, I found her trembling in the shadows

And I am here to help, Cosette

And I will settle any debt you may think proper

I will pay what I must pay

To take Cosette away.

THENARDIER

What to do? What to say?

Shall you carry our treasure away?

What a gem! What a pearl!

Beyond rubies is our little girl!

How can we speak of debt?

Let’s not haggle for darling Cosette!

Dear Fantine, gone to rest

Have we done for her child what is best?

Shared our bread. Shared each bone.

Treated her like she’s one of our own!

Like our own, Monsieur!

VALJEAN

Your feelings do you credit, sir

And I will ease the parting blow

Let us not talk of bargains or bones or greed

Now, may I say, we are agreed?

MADAM THENARDIER

That would quite fit the bill

If she hadn’t so often been ill

Little dear, cost us dear

Medicines are expensive, M’sieur!

Not that we begrudged a sou—

It’s no more than we Christians must do!

M. & M’ME THENARDIER

One thing more. One small doubt

There are treacherous people about

No offense. Please reflect

Your intentions may not be correct?

VALJEAN

No more words. Here’s your price.

Fifteen hundred for your sacrifice

Come, Cosette, say goodbye

Let us seek out a friendlier sky

Thank you both for Cosette

It won’t take you too long to forget.

LOOK DOWN

BEGGARS

Look down and see the beggars at your feet

Look down and show some mercy if you can

Look down and see

The sweepings of the street

Look down. Look down

Upon your fellow man!

GAVROCHE

How do you do? My name’s Gavroche.

These are my people Here’s my patch.

Not much to look at, nothing posh

Nothing that you’d call up to scratch.

This is my school, my high society

Here in the slums of Saint Michele

We live on crumbs of humble piety—

Tough on the teeth, but what the hell!

Think you’re poor.

Think you’re free?

Follow me! Follow me!

BEGGARS

Look down and show some mercy if you can.

Look down, look down upon your fellow man.

OLD BEGGAR WOMAN

What d’ you think yer at

Hanging round me pitch?

If you’re new around here, girl,

You’ve got a lot to learn!

YOUNG PROSTITUTE

Listen, you old bat

Crazy bloody witch

‘Least I give my customers

Some pleasure in return!

OLD BEGGAR WOMAN

I know what you give.

Give ’em all the pox!

Spread around your poison

Till they end up in a box

PIMP

Leave the poor old cow.

Move it, Madeleine.

She used to be no better

Till the clap got to her brain

BEGGARS

When’s it gonna end?

When we gonna live?

Something’s gotta happen now or

something’s gonna give

It’ll come, It’ll come. It’ll come

It’ll come, It’ll come. It’ll come. It’ll come.

ENJOLRAS

Where are the leaders of the land?

Where are the swells who run the show?

MARIUS

Only one man — and that’s Lamarque

Speaks for these people here below.

BEGGARS

See our children fed

Help us in our shame

Something for a crust of bread

In Holy Jesus’ name

URCHIN

In the Lord’s Holy name.

BEGGARS

In his name

In his name

In his name

MARIUS

Lamarque is ill and fading fast

Won’t last the week out so they say.

ENJOLRAS

With all the anger in the land

How long before the judgment day!

Before we cut the fat ones down to size?

Before the barricades arise?

BEGGARS

Look down and show some mercy if you can

Look down, look down

Upon your fellow man

STARS

JAVERT

There out in the darkness

A fugitive running

Fallen from grace

Fallen from grace

God be my witness

I never shall yield

Till we come face to face

Till we come face to face.

He knows his way in the dark

But mine is the way of the Lord

And those who do follow the path of the righteous

Shall have their reward

And if they fall

As Lucifer fell

The flame

The sword!

Stars in your multitudes

Scarce to be counted

Filling the darkness

With order and light

You are the sentinels

Silent and sure

Keeping watch in the night

Keeping watch in the night

You know your place in the sky

You hold your course

And your aim

And each in your season

Returns and returns

And is always the same

And if you fall

As Lucifer fell

You fall

In flame!

And so it has been and so it’s written

On the doorway to paradise

That those who falter

And those who fall

Must pay

The price.

Lord let me find him

That I may see him

Safe behind bars

I will never rest

Till then

This I swear

This I swear by the stars!

ABC CAFE / RED AND BLACK

STUDENTS

At Notre Dame

The sections are prepared!

At Rue du Bac

They’re straining at the leash!

Students, workers, everyone,

There’s a river on the run:

Like the flowing of the tide

Paris coming to our side!

ENJOLRAS

The time is near

So near it’s stirring the blood in their veins

And yet beware

Don’t let the wine go to your brains

For the army we fight is a dangerous foe

With the men and the arms that we never can match

it is easy to sit here and swat ’em like flies

But the National Guard will be harder to catch

We need a sign

To rally the people

To call them to arms

To bring them in line!

Marius, you’re late

JOLY

What’s wrong today?

You look as if you’ve seen a ghost

GRANTAIRE

Some wine, and say what’s going on.

MARIUS

A ghost you say, a ghost maybe

She was just like a ghost to me

One minute there…then she was gone!

GRANTAIRE

I am agog!

I am aghast!

Is Marius in love at last?

I have never seen him ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’

You talk of battles to be won

And here he comes like Don Ju-an

It’s better than an o-per-a!

ENJOLRAS

It is time for us all

To decide who we are

Do we fight for the right

To a night at the opera now?

Have you asked of yourselves

What’s the price you might pay?

Is it simply a game

For rich young boys to play,

The color of the world

Is changing day by day

Red — the blood of angry men!

Black — the dark of ages past!

Red — a world about to dawn!

Black — the night that ends at last!

MARIUS

Had you been there tonight

You might know how it feels

To be struck to the bone

In a moment of breathless delight!

Had you been there tonight

You might also have known

How your world may be changed

In just one burst of light

And what was right seems wrong

And what was wrong seems right!

Red — I feel my soul on fire!

Black — my world if she’s not there!

Red — the color of desire!

Black — the color of despair!

ENJOLRAS

Marius, you’re no longer a child

I do not doubt you mean it well

But now there is a higher call

Who cares about your lonely soul?

We strive towards a larger goal

Our little lives don’t count at all!

STUDENTS

Red — the blood of angry men!

Black — the dark of ages past!

Red - a world about to dawn!

Black - the night that ends at last!

ENJOLRAS

Well, Courfeyrac, do we have all the guns we need

Feuilly, Combeferre, our time is running short

Grantaire, put that bottle down!

Do we have the guns we need?

GRANTAIRE

Give me brandy on my breath

And I’ll breathe them all to death

COURFEYRAC

At St. Antoine they’re with us to a man

COMBEFERRE

At Notre Dame they’re tearing up the stones

FEUILLY

Twenty rifles good as new

JOLY

Twenty rounds for every man.

GAVROCHE

Listen

Listen to me

Listen everybody

General Lamarque is dead

ENJOLRAS

Lamarque is dead

Lamarque

His death is the hour of fate

The people’s man

His death is the sign we await

On his funeral day they will honor his name

It’s a rallying cry that will reach every ear.

In the death of Lamarque we will kindle the a flame

They will see that the day of salvation is near

The time is here

Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer

Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our hearts

But a jubilant shout

They will come one and all,

They will come when we call!

DO YOU HEAR THE PEOPLE SING?

ENJOLRAS

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing the song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

COMBEFERRE

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Beyond the barricade

Is there a world you long to see?

COURFEYRAC

Then join in the fight

That will give you the right to be free…

CHORUS

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing the song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

FEUILLY

Will you give all you can give

So that our banner may advance?

Some will fall and some will live

Will you stand up and take your chance?

The blood of the martyrs

Will water the meadows of France!

CHORUS

Do you hear the people sing?

Singing the song of angry men?

It is the music of a people

Who will not be slaves again!

When the beating of your heart

Echoes the beating of the drums

There is a life about to start

When tomorrow comes!

RUE PLUMET —IN MY LIFE

COSETTE

How strange this feeling that my life’s begun at last

This change, can people really fall in love so fast?

What’s the matter with you, Cosette?

Have you been too much on your own?

So many things unclear

So many things unknown,

In my life

There are so many questions and answers

That somehow seem wrong

In my life

There are times when I catch in the silence

The sigh of a far away song

And it sings

Of a world that I long to see

Out of reach

Just a whisper away

Waiting for me.

Does he know I’m alive?

Do I know if he’s real?

Does he see what I saw?

Does he feel what I feel?

In my life

I’m no longer alone

Now the love in my life

Is so near

Find me now, find me here!

MARIUS

In my life

She has burst like the music of angels

The light of the sun!

And my life seems to stop

As if something is over

And something has scarcely begun

Eponine, you’re the friend

Who has brought me here

Thanks to you, I am one with the gods

And Heaven is near!

And I soar through a world that is new, that is free

EPONINE

Every word that he says

Is a dagger in me!

In my life, there’s been no one like him anywhere,

Anywhere, where he is

If he asked…I’d be his!

MARIUS & EPONINE

In my life, there is someone who touches my life.

MARIUS

Waiting near!

EPONINE

Waiting near!

A HEART FULL OF LOVE

MARIUS

A heart full of love

A heart full of song

I’m doing everything all wrong

Oh God, for shame

I do not even know your name

Dear Mad’moiselle

Won’t you say?

Will you tell?

COSETTE

A heart full of love

No fear, no regret.

MARIUS

My name is Marius Pontmercy.

COSETTE

And mine’s Cosette.

MARIUS

Cosette. I don’t know what to say.

COSETTE

Then make no sound.

MARIUS

I am lost.

COSETTE

I am found!

MARIUS

A heart full of light.

COSETTE

A night bright as day.

MARIUS

And you must never go away

Cosette, Cosette!

COSETTE

This is a chain we’ll never break.

MARIUS

Do I dream?

COSETTE

I’m awake.

MARIUS

A heart full of love.

COSETTE

A heart full of you.

MARIUS

A single look and then I knew.

COSETTE

I knew it too.

MARIUS

From today.

COSETTE

Every day.

COSETTE & MARIUS

For it isn’t a dream

Not a dream

After all

EPONINE (interjections)

He was never mine to lose

Why regret

What could not be?

These are words

He’ll never say

Not to me

Not to me

Not for me

His heart

Full of love

He will never

Feel this way.

ATTACK ON RUE PLUMET

THENARDIER

This is his lair

I’ve seen the old fox around

He keeps himself to himself

He’s staving close to the ground

I smell profit here

Ten years ago

He came and paid for Cosette

I let her go for a song

It’s time we settled the debt

This’ll cost him dear

BRUJON

What do I care

Who you should rob?

Gimme my share

Finish the job!

THENARDIER

You shut your mouth

Give me your hand.

BRUJON

What have we here?

THENARDIER

Who is this hussy?

BABET

It’s your brat Eponine

Don’t you know your own kid

Why’s she hanging about you?

THENARDIER

Eponine, get on home

You’re not needed in this

We’re enough here without you

EPONINE

I know this house

I tell you there’s nothing here for you

Just the old man and the girl,

They live ordinary lives.

THENARDIER

Don’t interfere

You’ve got some gall

Take care, young miss

You’ve got a lot to say

BRUJON

She’s going soft

CLAQUESOUS

Happens to us all.

MONTPARNASSE

Go home. ‘Ponine

Go home, you’re in the way.

EPONINE

I’m gonna scream. I’m gonna warn them here.

THENARDIER

One little scream and you’ll regret it

For a year.

CLAQUESOUS

What a palaver

What an absolute treat

To watch a cat and it’s father

Pick a bone in the street.

BRUJON

Not a sound out of you!

EPONINE

Well. I told you I’d do it

Told you I’d do it…

THENARDIER

You wait my girl, you’ll rue this night

I’ll make you scream. You’ll scream alright.

Leave her to me. Don’t wait around.

Make for the sewers. Go underground.

MARIUS

It was your cry sent them away

Once more ‘Ponine, saving the day!

Dearest Cosette—my friend ‘Ponine

Brought me to you

Showed me the way!

Someone is near

Let’s not be seen

Somebody’s here.

VALJEAN

My dear Cosette

I heard a cry in the dark

I heard the shout of angry voices in the street

COSETTE

That was my cry you heard, Papa

I was afraid of what they’d do

They ran away when they heard my cry

VALJEAN

Cosette, my child, what will become of you?

COSETTE

Three men I saw beyond the wall

Three men in shadow moving fast!

VALJEAN

This was a warning to us all

These were the shadows of the past!

Must be Javert!

He’s found my cover at last

I’ve got to take Cosette away

Before they return

We must get away from shadows

That will never let us be

Tomorrow to Calais,

And then a ship across the sea!

Hurry, Cosette, prepare to leave and say no more

Tomorrow, we’ll away!

Hurry, Cosette, it’s time to close another door

And live another day!

ONE DAY MORE!

VALJEAN

One day more!

Another day, another destiny.

This never-ending road to Calvary

These men who seem to know my crime

Will surely come a second time.

One day more!

MARIUS

I did not live until today

How can I live when we are parted?

VALJEAN

One day more.

MARIUS & COSETTE

Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away

And yet with you my world has started!

EPONINE

One more day all on my own.

MARIUS & COSETTE

Will we ever meet again?

EPONINE

One more day with him not caring.

MARIUS & COSETTE

I was born to be with you.

EPONINE

What a life I might have known.

MARIUS & COSETTE

And I swear I will be true.

EPONINE

But he never saw me there!

ENJOLRAS

One more day before the storm.

MARIUS

Do I follow where she goes?

ENJOLRAS

At the barricades of freedom.

MARIUS

Shall I join my brothers there?

ENJOLRAS

When our ranks begin to form.

MARIUS

Do I stay: and do I dare?

ENJOLRAS

Will you take your place with me?

CHORUS

The time is now

The day is here

VALJEAN

One day more!

JAVERT

One day more to revolution

We will nip it in the bud

I will join these little schoolboys

They will wet themselves…with blood!

VALJEAN

One day more.

THENARDIER

Watch ’em run amuck

Catch ’em as they fall

Never know your luck

When there’s a free-for-all.

Here a little ‘dip’

There a little ’touch’

Most of them are goners

So they won’t miss much!

REBEL STUDENTS

One day to a new beginning.

Raise the flag of freedom high

Every man will be a king

Every man will be a king

There’s a new world for the winning

There’s a new world to be won!

Do you hear the people sing?

MARIUS

My place is here

I fight with you.

VALJEAN

One day more.

MARIUS & COSETTE

I did not live until today

How can I live when we are parted?

JAVERT

I will join these people’s heroes

I will follow where they go

I will learn their little secrets

I will know the things they know.

EPONINE

One more day all on my own.

VALJEAN

One day more.

MARIUS & COSETTE

Tomorrow you’ll be worlds away

And yet with you my world has started.

JAVERT

One more day to revolution

We will nip it in the bud

I will join these little schoolboys

THENARDIER

Watch ’em run amuck

Catch ’em as they fall

Never know your luck

When there’s a free for ail.

VALJEAN

Tomorrow we’ll be far away

Tomorrow is the judgment day.

Tomorrow is the judgment.

JAVERT

Tomorrow is the judgment day

ALL

Tomorrow we’ll discover

What our God in Heaven has in store

One more dawn

One more day

One day more!

ACT 2

ON MY OWN

EPONINE

And now I’m all alone again

Nowhere to turn, no one to go to

Without a home, without a friend

Without a face to say hello to

And now the night is near, now I can make

Believe he’s here.

Sometimes I walk alone at night

When everybody else is sleeping

I think of him and then I’m happy

With the company I’m keeping

The city goes to bed

And I can live inside my head.

On my own

Pretending he’s beside me.

All alone, I walk with him till morning

Without him

I feel his arms around me

And when I lose my way I close my eyes

And he has found me.

In the rain the pavement shines like silver

All the lights are misty in the river

In the darkness the trees are full of starlight

And all I see is him and me for ever and forever.

And I know it’s only in my mind

That I’m talking to myself and not to him

And although I know that he is blind

Still I say there’s a way for us.

I love him

But when the night is over

He is gone, the river’s just a river

Without him the world around me changes

The trees are bare and everywhere

The streets are full of strangers.

I love him

But everyday I’m learning

All my life I’ve only been pretending

Without me his world will go on turning

A world that’s full of happiness that I have never known.

I love him, I love him.

I love him, but only on my own.

BACK AT THE BARRICADE

CHORUS

Red — the blood of angry men!

Black — the dark of ages past!

Red — a world about to dawn!

Black — the night that ends at last!

STUDENTS

Now we pledge ourselves to hold this barricade.

MARIUS

Let them come in their legions

And they will be met!

ENJOLRAS

Have faith in yourselves

And don’t be afraid.

GRANTAIRE

Let’s give ’em a screwing

They’ll never forget!

COMBEFERRE

This is where it begins!

COURFEYRAC

And if I should die in the fight to be free

Where the fighting is hardest

There will I be.

FEUILLY

Let them come if they dare

We’ll be there!

ARMY OFFICER

You at the barricade, listen to this!

No one is coming to help you to fight!

You’re on your own

You have no friends

Give up your guns—or die!

ENJOLRAS

Damn their warnings. Damn their lies!

They will see the people rise!

STUDENTS

Damn their warnings. Damn their lies!

They will see the people rise!

JAVERT’S ARRIVAL / LITTLE PEOPLE

JAVERT

Listen my friends

I have done as I said

I have been to their lines

I have counted each man

I will tell what I can

Better be warned.

They have armies to spare

And our danger is real

We will need enough cunning

To bring them to heal

ENJOLRAS

Have faith

If you know what their movements are

We’ll spoil their game

There are ways that a people can fight

We shall overcome their power

JAVERT

I have overhead their plans

There will be no attack tonight

They intend to starve you out

Before they start a proper fight

Concentrate their force

Hit us from the right

GAVROCHE

Liar!

Good evening dear Inspector

Lovely evening, my dear

I know this man, my friends

His name’s Inspector Javert!

So don’t believe a word he says

‘Cause none of it’s true

This only goes to show

What little people can do!

And little people know

When little people fight

We may look easy pickings

But we got some bite

So never kick a dog

Because he’s just a pup

We’ll fight like twenty armies

And we won’t give up!

So you’d better run for cover

When the pup grows up!

STUDENT

Bravo, little Gavroche! You’re the top of the class

So what are we gonna do with this snake in the grass

ENJOLRAS

Tie this man and take him

To the tavern in there

The people will decide your fate

Inspector Javert!

COURFEYRAC

Take this bastard now and shoot him!

FEUILLY

Let us watch this devil dance.

LESGLES

You’d have done the same, Inspector

If we’d let you have your chance!

ENJOLRAS

Take this man. Bring him through.

There is work we have to do.

A LITTLE FALL OF RAIN

EPONINE

Don’t you fret. M’sieur Marius,

I don’t feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt me now

You’re here. That’s all I need to know.

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close

And rain will make the flowers grow.

MARIUS

But you will live ‘Ponine — dear God above

If I could heal your wounds with words of love.

EPONINE

Just hold me now, and let it be.

Shelter me, comfort me.

MARIUS

You would live a hundred years

If I could show you how

I won’t desert you now…

EPONINE

The rain can’t hurt me now

This rain will wash away what’s past

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close.

I’ll sleep in your embrace at last.

The rain that brings you here

Is heaven blessed.

The skies begin to clear

And I’m at rest.

A breath away from where you are

I’ve come home from so far

So don’t you fret. M’sieur Marius

I don’t feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt me now.

That’s all I need to know.

And you will keep me safe

And you will keep me close

And rain will make the flowers

MARIUS

Hush-a-bye, dear Eponine

You won’t feel any pain

A little fall of rain

Can hardly hurt you now

I’m here.

I will stay with you till you are sleeping

And rain will make the flowers grow.

NIGHT OF ANGUISH

ENJOLRAS

She is the first to fall.

The first of us to fall upon this barricade.

MARIUS

Her name was Eponine.

Her life was cold and dark yet she was unafraid.

COMBEFERRE

We fight here in the name.

PROUVAIRE

She will not die in vain.

LESGLES

She will not be betrayed.

FIRST ATTACK

JOLY

Here comes a man in uniform

What brings you to this place?

VALJEAN

I come here as a volunteer.

JOLY

Approach and show your face.

SENTRY

You wear an army uniform.

VALJEAN

That’s why they let me through.

JOLY

You’ve got some years behind you, sir.

VALJEAN

But much that I can do.

JOLY

You see that prisoner over there?

GRANTAIRE

A volunteer like you!

COMBEFERRE

A spy! who calls himself, Javert!

GRANTAIRE

He’s gonna get it, too!

SENTRY

They’re getting ready to attack.

ENJOLRAS

Take this and use it well!

But if you shoot us in the back

You’ll never live to tell.

STUDENT 1

Platoon of sappers advancing towards the barricade.

STUDENT 2

Troops behind them! Fifty men or more!

ENJOLRAS

Fire!

LESGLES

See how they run away!

GRANTAIRE

By God, we’ve won the day!

ENJOLRAS

They will be back again.

Make an attack again.

For your presence of mind,

For the deed you have done,

I will thank you, M’sieur

When our battle is won.

VALJEAN

Give me no thanks, M’sieur

There’s something you can do.

ENJOLRAS

If it is in my power.

VALJEAN

Give me the spy, Javert—

Let me take care of him!

JAVERT

The law is inside out,

The world is upside down.

ENJOLRAS

Do what you have to do,

This man belongs to you.

The enemy may be regrouping. Hold yourselves in

readiness. Come, my friends, back to your positions, the

night is falling fast.

DRINK WITH ME

VALJEAN

We meet again.

JAVERT

You’ve hungered for this all your life

Take your revenge!

How right you should kill with a knife!

VALJEAN

You talk too much

You’re life is safe in my hands.

JAVERT

Don’t understand.

VALJEAN

Get out of here.

JAVERT

Valjean, take care!

I’m warning you…

VALJEAN

Clear out of here.

JAVERT

Once a thief, forever a thief

What you want you always steal!

You would trade your life for mine

Yes, Valjean, you want a deal!

Shoot me now, for all I care

If you let me go, beware

You’ll still answer too Javert!

VALJEAN

You are wrong, and always have been wrong.

I’m a man no worse than any man.

You are free and there are no conditions,

No bargains or petitions.

There’s nothing that I blame you for

You’ve done your duty, nothing more.

If I come out of this alive, you’ll find me

At number fifty-five, Rue Plumet

No doubt our paths will cross again.

Go!

FEUILLY

Drink with me to days gone by

Sing with me the songs we knew.

PROUVAIRE

Here’s to pretty girls

Who went to our heads.

JOLY

Here’s to witty girls

Who went to our beds.

ALL THREE

Here’s to them

And here’s to you!

GRANTAIRE

Drink with me to days gone by

Can it be you fear to die?

Will the world remember you

When you fall?

Could it be your death

Means nothing at all?

Is your life just one more lie?

MEN

Drink with me to days gone by

To the life that used to be

Let the wine of friendship never run dry.

Here’s to you

And here’s to me.

WOMEN

Drink with me to days gone by

To the life that used to be.

At the shrine of friendship never say die.

Here’s to you

And here’s to me.

MARIUS

Do I care if I should die

Now she goes across the sea?

Life without Cosette

Means nothing at all.

Would you weep, Cosette.

Should Marius fall?

Will you weep, Cosette.

For me?

BRING HIM HOME

VALJEAN

God on high

Hear my prayer

In my need

You have always been there

He is young

He’s afraid

Let him rest

Heaven blessed.

Bring him home

Bring him home

Bring him home.

He’s like the son I might have known

If God had granted me a son.

The summers die

One by one

How soon they fly

On and on

And I am old

And will be gone

Bring him peace

Bring him joy

He is young

He is only a boy

You can take

You can give

Let him be

Let him live

If I die, let me die

Let him live, bring him home

Bring him home

Bring him home.

SECOND ATTACK / THE FINAL BATTLE

ARMY OFFICER

You at the barricades, listen to this

The people of Paris sleep in their beds.

You’ll have no chance

No chance at all.

Why throw your lives away?

ENJOLRAS

Let us die facing our foe—

Make them bleed while we can

COMBEFERRE

Make ’em pay through the nose.

COURFEYRAC

Make ’em pay for every man.

ENJOLRAS

Let others rise

To take our place

Until the earth is free!

THE SEWERS - DOG EATS DOG

THENARDIER

Here’s a hint of gold

Stuck into a tooth

Pardon me. M’sieur

You won’t be needing this no more.

Shouldn’t be too hard to sell

Add it to the pile

Add it to the stock

Here among the sewer rats

A breath away from Hell

Y’ get accustomed to the smell.

Well someone’s got to clean them up, my friends

Bodies on the highway

Law and order upside down

Someone’s got to collect their odds and ends

As a service to the town

Here’s a tasty ring

Pretty little thing

Wouldn’t want to waste it

That would really be a crime.

Thank you sir, I’m in your debt

Here’s a little toy

Take it off the boy

His heart’s no longer going

And he’s lived his little time

But his watch is ticking yet!

Well someone’s got to clean them up, my friends

Before the little harvest

Disappears into the mud

Someone’s got to collect their odds and ends

When the gutters run with blood

It’s a world where the dogs eat the dogs

Where they kill for the bones in the street

And God in His Heaven

He don’t interfere

‘Cos he’s dead as the stiffs at my feet.

I raise my eyes to see the heavens

And only the moon looks down.

The harvest moon shines down.

JAVERT’S SUICIDE

VALJEAN

It’s you Javert

I knew you wouldn’t wait too long

The faithful servant at his post once more

This man’s done no wrong

And he needs a doctor’s care.

JAVERT

I warned you I would not give IN,

I won’t be swayed.

VALJEAN

Another hour yet and then I’m yours

And all our debts are paid.

JAVERT

The man of mercy

Comes again

And talks of justice.

VALJEAN

Come, time is running short

Look down, Javert,

He’s standing in his grave

Give way, Javert,

There is a life to save.

JAVERT

Take him, Valjean

Before I change my mind.

I will be waiting

  1. Who is this man?

What sort of devil is he

To have me caught in a trap

And choose to let me go free?

It was his hour at last

To put a seal on my fate

Wipe out the past

And wash me clean off the slate!

All it would take

Was a flick of his knife.

Vengeance was his and he gave me back my life!

Damned if I’ll live in the debt of a thief

Damned if I’ll yield at the end of the chase

I am the Law and the Law is not mocked

I’ll spit his pity right back in his face

There is nothing on earth that we share

It is either Valjean or Javert!

How can I now allow this man

To hold dominion over me?

This desperate man that I have hunted

He gave me my life. He gave me freedom.

I should have perished by his hand

It was his right

It was my right to die as well.

Instead, I live … but live in hell.

And my thoughts fly apart

Can this man be believed?

Shall his sins be forgiven?

Shall his crimes be reprieved?

And must I now begin to doubt.

Who never doubted all these years?

My heart is stone and still it trembles

The world I have known is lost in shadow

Is he from heaven or from hell?

And does he know

That, granting me my life today

This man has killed me even so?

I am reaching but I fall

And the stars are black and cold

As I stare into the void

Of a world that cannot hold

I’ll escape now from the world

From the world of Jean Valjean

There is nowhere I can turn

There is no way to go on…

TURNING

WOMEN

Did you see them

Going off to fight

Children of the barricades

Who didn’t last the night?

Did you see them

Lying where they died?

Someone used to cradle them

And kiss them when they cried

Did you see them lying side by side?

Who will wake them?

No one ever will

No one ever told them

That a summer day can kill

They were school boys

Never held a gun

Fighting for a new world

That would rise up like the sun.

Where’s that new world now the fighting’s done?

Nothing changes. Nothing ever will.

Every year another brat, another mouth to fill

Same old story. What’s the use of tears?

What’s the use of praying

If there’s nobody who hears?

Turning turning turning turning turning

Through the years

Turning, turning, turning through the years.

Minutes into hours, and the hours into years.

Nothing changes. Nothing ever can

Round about the roundabout, and back where you began.

Round and round and back where you began!

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES

MARIUS

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken

There’s a pain goes on and on

Empty chairs at empty tables

Now my friends are dead and gone

Here they talked of revolution

Here it was they lit the flame

Here they sang about ’tomorrow’

And tomorrow never came.

From the table in the corner

They could see a world reborn

And they rose with voices ringing

I can hear them now

The very words that they had sung

Became their last communion

On the lonely barricade at dawn!

Oh my friends, my friends, forgive me

That I live and you are gone

There’s a grief that can’t be spoken

There’s a pain goes on and on

Phantom faces at the window

Phantom shadows on the floor

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friends will meet no more,

Oh my friends, my friends, don’t ask me

What your sacrifice was for

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friends will sing no more.

EVERY DAY / A HEART FULL OF LIFE (reprise)

COSETTE

Every day

You walk with stronger step

You with longer step,

‘The worst is over’.

MARIUS

Every day,

I wonder every day

Who was it brought me here

From the barricade?

COSETTE

Don’t think about it, Marius!

With all the years ahead of us!

I will never go away

And we will be together

‘Every day’,

‘Every day’.

We’ll remember that night

And the vow that we made.

A heart full of love.

A night full of you.

The words are old

But always true.

Oh, God for shame

You did not even know my name.

MARIUS

Dear Mad’moiselle

I was lost in your spell.

Cosette, Cosette.

Waiting for you

At your feet.

COSETTE

A heart full of love

No fear nor regret

‘My name is Marius Pontmercy.’

I saw you waiting and I knew.

At your call.

VALJEAN

She was never mine to keep

She is youthful, she is free.

Love is the garden of the young.

MARIUS & COSETTE

And it wasn’t a dream

Not a dream, after all.

VALJEAN

A heart full of love,

This I give you this day.

WEDDING CHORALE / BEGGARS AT THE FEAST

FIRST CHORUS

Ring out the bells

Upon this day of days

May all the angels

Of the Lord above

In jubilation

Sing their songs of praise

And crown this

Blessed time with

Peace and love.

SECOND CHORUS

Ring out the bells

Upon this day of days

May all the angels

Of the Lord above

In jubilation

Sing their songs of praise

And crown this

Blessed time with

Peace and love.

BEGGARS AT THE FEAST

THENARDIER

Ain’t it a laugh?

Ain’t it a treat?

Hob-nobbin’ here

Among the elite?

Here comes a prince

There goes a Jew

This one’s a queer

But what can you do?

Paris at my feet

Paris in the dust

And here’s me breaking bread

With the upper crust . .

Beggar at the feast!

Master of the dance!

Life is easy pickins

If you grab your chance

Everywhere you go

Law-abiding folk

Doing what is decent

But they’re mostly broke!

Singing to the Lord on Sundays

Praying for the gifts He’ll send.

M. &.MME. THENARDIER

But we’re the ones who take it

We’re the ones who make it in the end!

Watch the buggers dance

Watch ’em till they drop

Keep your wits about you

And you stand on top!

Masters of the land

Always get our share

Clear away the barricades

And we’re still there!

We know where the wind is blowing

Money is the stuff we smell.

And when we’re rich as Croesus

Jesus! won’t we see you all in Hell!

EPILOGUE (FINALE)

VALJEAN

Alone I wait in the shadows

I count the hours till I can sleep

I dreamed a dream Cosette stood by

It made her weep

To know I die

Alone, at the end of the day

Upon this wedding night I pray

Take these children, my Lord, to thy embrace

And show them grace.

God on high,

Hear my prayer

Take me now

To thy care

Where you are.

Let me be,

Take me now,

Take me there

Bring me home,

Bring me home

FANTINE

Mssr. I bless your name.

VALJEAN

I am ready, Fontaine.

FANTINE

Mssr. lay down your burden.

VALJEAN

At the end of my days.

FANTINE

You raised my child with love

VALJEAN

She’s the best of my life

FANTINE

And you will be with God.

COSETTE

Papa, Papa I do not understand

Are you all right? They said you’d gone away.

VALJEAN

Cosette, my child, am I forgiven now?

Thank God, thank God, I’ve lived to see this day.

MARIUS

It’s you who must forgive a thoughtless fool.

It’s you who must forgive a thankless man.

It’s thanks to you that I am living

And again I lay down my life at your feet.

Cosette, your father is a saint.

When they wounded me

He took me from the barricade

Carried like a babe, and brought me home to you!

VALJEAN

Now you are here,

Again beside me.

Now I can die in peace

For now my life is blessed…

COSETTE

You will live, Papa, you’re going to live.

It’s too soon, too soon to say good-bye!

VALJEAN

Yes, Cosette, forbid me not to die.

I’ll obey,

I will try.

On this page

I write my last confession.

Read it well

When I, at last, am sleeping

It’s a story

Of those who always loved you.

Your mother gave her life for you

Then gave you to my keeping.

FANTINE

Come with me

Where chains will never bind you

All your grief,

Your grief, at last, behind you

Lord in heaven,

Look down on him in mercy.

VALJEAN

Forgive me all my trespasses

And take me to your glory.

FANTINE, EPONINE

Take my hand

And lead me to salvation

Take my love

For love is everlasting.

VALJEAN, FANTINE & EPONINE

And remember

The truth that once was spoken,

To love another person

Is to see the face of God.

CHORUS

Do you hear the people sing

Lost in the valley of the night?

It is the music of the people

Who are climbing to the light

For the wretched of the earth

There is a flame that never dies

Even the darkest night will end

And the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom

In the garden of the Lord

They will walk behind their plowshare

They will put away the sword

Their chain will be broken and

All men will have their reward

Will you join in our crusade?

Who will be strong and stand with me?

Somewhere beyond the barricade

Is there a world you long to see?

Do you hear the people sing?

Say do you hear the distant drums?

It is the future that they bring

When tomorrow comes!

Oh, tomorrow comes!

ENCORE 1 - SPEECHES / DO YOU HERE THE PEOPLE SING?

ENCORE 2 - ONE DAY MORE

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    Les Miserables