Act II

At the Barricade (Upon these Stones)
On My Own
Building the Barricade
Javert's Arrival
Little People
A Little Fall of Rain (Eponine's Death)
Night of Anguish
First Attack
Drink With Me
Bring Him Home
Dawn of Anguish
The Second Attack
Death of Gavroche
The Final Battle
Dog Eats Dog
The Sewers
Javert's Suicide
Turning
Empty Chairs at Empty Tables
Every Day (Marius and Cosette)
Valjean's Confession
The Wedding Chorale
Beggars at the Feast
Epilogue
Finale

Prologue - Work Song

1815, Toulon, France. The chain gang, overseen by brutal warders, works in the sun.

Chorus (Prisoners):
Look down, look down
Don't look 'em in the eye
Look down, look down,
You're here until you die
1st Convict:
The sun is strong
It's hot as hell below
Chorus:
Look down, look down,
There's twenty years to go
2nd Convict:
I've done no wrong!
Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!
Chorus:
Look down, look down,
Sweet Jesus doesn't care
3rd Convict:
I know she'll wait,
I know that she'll be true!
Chorus:
Look down, look down,
They've all forgotten you
4th Convict:
When I get free ya won't see me
Here for dust!
Chorus:
Look down, look down
Don't look 'em in the eye
5th Convict:
How long, oh Lord
Before you let me die?
Chorus:
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 am Javert
Do not forget my name!
Do not forget me,
24601.
Chorus:
Look down, look down
You'll always be a slave
Look down, look down
You're standing in your grave.

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 - everyone.
The day begins...
And now lets see
What this new world
Will do for me!
He finds work on a farm.

Farmer:
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 broke the law
It's there for people to see
Why should you get the same
As honest men like me?
Valjean:
Now every door is closed to me
Another jail. Another key. Another chain
For when I come to any town
They check my papers
And they find the mark of Cain
In their eyes I see their fear
`We do not want you here.'
He comes to an inn.

Innkeeper's Wife:
My rooms are full
And I've no supper to spare
I'd like to help a stranger
All we want is to be fair
Valjean:
I will pay in advance
I can sleep in a barn
You see how dark it is
I'm not some kind of dog!
Innkeeper:
You leave my house
Or feel the weight of my rod
We're law-abiding people here
Thanks be to God.
They throw him out of the inn.

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 cursed throughout the land
It is the law!
Like a cur
I walk the street,
The dirt beneath their feet.
He sits down despairingly outside a house from which emerges the Bishop of Digne.

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 had 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
But when the house was still,
I got up in the night.
Took the silver
Took my flight!
Taking the silver cup, he runs off, but is brought back by two constables.

Valjean Arrested, Valjean Forgiven

Constables
1. Tell his reverence your story
2. Let us see if he's impressed
1. You were lodging here last night
2. You were the honest Bishop's guest.
And then, out of Christian goodness
When he learned about your plight
1. 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
The bishop gives Valjean two silver candlesticks.
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.
Constables leave. The bishop addresses Valjean.
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!

What Have I Done? (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 that 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!
He tears up his yellow ticket-of-leave.

At The End of The Day

1823, Montreuil-sur-Mer. Outside the factory owned by the Mayor, Monsieur Madeleine (Jean Valjean in disguise).

The Poor:
At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can 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!
The foreman and workers, including Fantine, emerge from the factory.

Foreman:
At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing
Sitting flat on your butt doesn't buy any bread
Worker 1:
Here are children back at home
Workers 1&2:
And the children have got to be fed
Worker 2:
And you're lucky to be in a job
Woman:
And in a bed!
Workers:
And we're counting our blessings!
Woman 2:
Have you seen how the foreman is fuming today?
With his terrible breath and his wandering hands?
Woman 3:
It's because little Fantine won't give him his way
Woman 1:
Take a look at his trousers, you'll see where he stands!
Woman 4:
And the boss, he never knows
That the foreman is always in heat
Woman 3:
If Fantine doesn't look out, watch how she goes
She'll be out on the street!
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: (Grabbing a letter from Fantine)
And what have we here, little innocent sister?
Come on Fantine, let's have all the news!
Reading the letter.
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?
They fight over the letter. Valjean (M. Madeleine) rushes on to break up the squabble.

Valjean:
Will someone tear these two apart?
What is this fighting all about?
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
(To the foreman)
I look to you to sort this out
And be as patient as you can-
He goes back into the factory.

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
Workers:
Sack the girl today!
Foreman:
Right my girl. On your way!

I Dreamed a Dream

Fantine is left alone, unemployed and destitute.

Fantine:
There was a 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
And 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

The docks. Sailors, whores and their customers, pimps, etc. Fantine wanders in.

Sailor 1:
I smell women
Smell 'em in the air
Think I'll drop my anchor
In that harbor over there
Sailor 2:
Lovely ladies
Smell 'em through the smoke
Seven days at sea
Can make you hungry for a poke
Sailor 3:
Even stokers need a little stoke!
Women:
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

Old Woman:
Come here, my dear
Let's see this trinket you wear
This bagatelle...
Fantine:
Madame, I'll sell it to you...
Old Woman:
I'll give you four
Fantine:
That wouldn't pay for the chain!
Old Woman:
I'll give you five. You're far too eager to sell. It's up to you.
Fantine:
It's all I have
Old Woman:
That's not my fault
Fantine:
Please make it ten
Old Woman:
No more than five
My dear, we all must stay alive!
Women:
Lovely ladies
Waiting in the dark
Ready for a thick one
Or a quick one in the park
Whore 1:
Long time short time
Any time, my dear
Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!
All:
Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!
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!
Sailor 3:
Lovely lady!
Fastest on the street
Wasn't there three minutes
She was back up on her feet
Sailor 1:
Lovely lady!
What yer waiting for?
Doesn't take a lot of savvy
Just to be a whore
Come on, lady
What's a lady for? Fantine re-emerges, her long hair cut short.
Pimp:
Give me the dirt, who's that bit over there?
Whore 1:
A bit of skirt. She's the one sold her hair.
Whore 2:
She's got a kid. Sends her all that she can
Pimp:
I might have known
There is always some man
Lovely lady, come along and join us!
Lovely lady!
Whore 1:
Come on dearie, why all the fuss?
You're no grander than the rest of us
Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap
Join your sisters
Whore 2:
Make money in your sleep!
Fantine goes off with one of the sailors.

Whore 1:
That's right dearie, let him have the lot
Whore 3:
That's right dearie, show him what you've got!
Women:
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 as 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

Bamatabois is a well dressed gentleman.

Bamatabois
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 a slice of your pie
Fantine:
I don't want you. No, no, m'sieur, let me go.
Bamatabois: Is this a trick? I won't pay more!
Fantine:
No, not at all.
Bamatabois:
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 and to choose
Or lead me to a dance!
He hits her with his stick, she claws at his face, drawing blood.

Fantine:
I'll kill you, you bastard,
Try any of that!
Even a whore who has gone to the bad
Won't be had by a rat!
Bamatabois
By Christ you'll pay for what you've done
This rat will make you bleed, you'll see!
I guarantee, I'll make you suffer
For this disturbance of the peace
For this insult to life and property!
Fantine:
I beg you, don't report me sir
I'll do whatever you may want
Bamatabois
Make your excuse to the police!
Javert enters, accompanied by constables.

Javert:
Tell me quickly what's the story
Who saw what and why and where
Let him 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?
Bamatabois:
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.'
Fantine gives a last despairing cry as she is arrested by the constables.
Valjean emerges from the crowd.

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!
Fantine:
Can this be?
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 a place such 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 have 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!
Javert:
But M'sieur Mayor!
Valjean:
I will see it done!
Voices:
Look out! It's a runaway cart!

The Runaway Cart

The crowd parts to reveal that the cart has crashed, trapping Monsieur Fauchelevant.

Voices
Look at that!
Look at that!
It's Monsieur Fauchelevant!
Don't approach! Don't go near!
At the risk of your life!
He is caught by the wheel!
Oh, the pitiful man!
Stay away, Turn away!
There is nothing to do!
There is nothing to do!
Valjean:
Is there anyone here
Who will rescue the man?
Who will help me to shoulder
The weight of the cart?
Voices
Don't go near him, Mr. Mayor
The load is heavy as hell
The old man's a goner for sure
It'll kill you as well.
Valjean attempts to lift the cart... but fails. He tries again. They manage to pull Fauchelevant clear.

Fauchelevant:
M'sieur le Mayor, I have no words
You come from God, you are a saint.
Javert takes Valjean aside.

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 hideaway
And he's just been re-arrested
And he comes to court today.
Well, of course he now denies it
You'd expect that of a `con'
But he couldn't run forever -
No, not even Jean Valjean!
Valjean:
You say this man denies it all
And gives no sign of understanding or repentance?
You say this man is going to trial
And that's he's sure to be returned
To serve his sentence?
Come to that, can you be sure,
That I am not your man?
Javert:
I have known the thief for ages
Tracked him down through thick and thin
And to make the matter certain
There's the brand upon his skin
He will bend, he will break
This time there is no mistake.
Javert leaves. Valjean is alone.

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.
How 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 feel his agony
This innocent who bears my face
Who goes to judgement 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
He appears in front of the court

Who am I? Who am I?
I am Jean Valjean!
He unbuttons his shirt to reveal the number tattooed to his chest.

And so Javert, you see it's true
That man bears no more guilt than you!
Who am I?
24601!

Come To Me (Fantine's Death)

Fantine is lying in a hospital bed, deliriously dreaming of her daughter Cosette.

Fantine:
Cosette, it's turned so cold
Cosette, it's past your bedtime
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 enters.

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 shall 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...
She dies with a smile. Javert arrives.

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
A man like you can never change
A man such as you.

Valjean (in counterpoint):  Javert (in counterpoint):
Believe of me what you will Men like me can never change
There is a duty that I'm   Men like you can never change
sworn to do   No,
You know nothing of my life 24601
All I did was steal some bread My duty's to the law - you have no
You know nothing of the world rights
You would sooner see me dead  Come with me 24601
But not before I see this justice Now the wheel has turned around
done    Jean Valjean is nothing now
I am warning you Javert  Dare you talk to me of crime
I'm a stronger man by far  And the price you had to pay
There is power in me yet  Every man is born in sin
My race is not yet run  Every man must choose his way
I am warning you Javert  You know nothing of Javert
There is nothing I won't dare I was born inside a jail
If I have to kill you here  I was born with scum like you
I'll do what must be done! I am from the gutter too!

Valjean breaks a chair and threatens Javert with the broken piece. Turns to Fantine.

Valjean (to Fantine):
And this I swear to you tonight
Javert: (to Valjean):
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!
They fight, Javert is knocked out. Valjean escapes.

Castle on a Cloud

Young Cosette is working as a drudge in the Th閚ardier's inn at Montfermeil.

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!

Mme. Th閚ardier:
Now look who's here
The little madam herself!
Pretending once again she's been `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 and draw some water from the well!
We should never have taken you in the first place
How stupid the things that we do!
Like mother like daughter, the scum of the street.
Eponine, come my dear, Eponine, let me see you
You look very well in that new little blue hat
There's some little girls who know how to behave
And they know what to wear
And I'm saying thank heaven for that.
Still there Cosette?
Your tears will do you no good!
I told you fetch some water from the well in the wood!
Young Cosette
Please do not send me out alone
Not in the darkness on my own!
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Enough of that, or I'll forget to be nice!
You heard me ask for something,
And I never ask twice!
Young Eponine pushes Cosette out. Th閚ardier says good night to his daughter as the inn fills up for the evening.

Master of the House

Drinkers:
3. Come on you old pest
2. Fetch a bottle of your best
1. What's the nectar of the day?
Th閚ardier enters with a flask of wine.

Th閚ardier:
Here, try this lot
Guaranteed to hit the spot
Or I'm not Th閚ardier
Drinkers
Gissa glass a rum
Landlord, over here!
Th閚ardier:
Right away, you scum (to himself)
Right away, m'sieur (to customer)
Diners
1. God this place has gone to hell
2. So you tell me every year
Drinkers
6. Mine host Th閚ardier
He was there so they say,
At the field of Waterloo
7. Got there, it's true
When the fight was all through
1. But he knew just what to do
Crawling through the mud
So I've heard it said
Picking through the pockets
Of the English dead
8. He made a tidy score
From the spoils of war
Th閚ardier:
My band of soaks
My den of dissolutes
My dirty jokes, my always pissed as newts.
My sons of whores
Spent their lives in my inn
Homing pigeons homing in
They fly through my doors
And their money's as good as yours
Diner 2:
Ain't got a clue
What he put in this stew
Must have scraped it off the street
Diner 1:
God what a wine!
Chateau Neuf de Turpentine
Must have pressed it with his feet
Drinkers
Landlord over here!
Where's the bloody man?
One more for the road!
Th閚ardier, one more slug o' gin.
Girl:
Just one more, or my old man is gonna do me in.
Th閚ardier greets a new customer.

Th閚ardier:
Welcome, M'sieur
Sit yourself down
And meet the best
Innkeeper in town
As for the rest,
All of 'em crooks
Rooking their guests
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 a friend 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
Pickin' up their knick-knacks
When they can't see straight
Everybody loves a landlord
Everybody's bosom friend
I do whatever pleases
Jesus! Won't I bleed 'em in the end!
Th閚ardier & Drinkers:
Master of the house
Quick to catch yer eye
Never wants a passerby
To pass him by
Servant to the poor
Butler to the great
Comforter, philosopher,
And lifelong mate!
Everybody's boon companion
Everybody's chaperone
Th閚ardier:
But lock up your valises
Jesus! Won't I skin you to the bone!
To another new customer
Enter M'sieur
Lay down your load
Unlace your boots
And rest from the road
Taking his bag
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 percent for looking in the mirror twice
Here a little slice
There a little cut
Three percent for sleeping with the window shut
When it comes to fixing prices
There are a lot of tricks he knows
How it all increases
All those bits and pieces
Jesus! It's amazing how it grows!
Th閚ardier & Chorus:
Master of the house
Quick to catch yer eye
Never wants a passerby
To pass him by
Servant to the poor
Butler to the great
Comforter, philosopher,
And lifelong mate!
Everybody's boon companion
Gives 'em everything he's got
Th閚ardier:
Dirty bunch of geezers
Jesus! What a sorry little lot!
Mme. Th閚ardier:
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!
Th閚ardier & Drinkers:
Master of the house!
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Master and a half!
Th閚ardier & Drinkers:
Comforter, philosopher
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Ah, don't make me laugh!
Th閚ardier & Drinkers:
Servant to the poor. Butler to the great.
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Hypocrite and toady and inebriate!
Th閚ardier & Drinkers:
Everybody bless the landlord!
Everybody bless his spouse!
Th閚ardier:
Everybody raise a glass
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Raise it up the master's arse.
All:
Everybody raise a glass to the master of the house!

The Bargain

Valjean and Young Cosette, hand-in-hand, approach the now empty inn, singing. They arrive at the inn.

Valjean:
I found her wandering in the wood
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.
There is a duty I must heed,
There is a promise I have made
For I was blind to one in need
I did not see what stood before me
Now her mother is with God
Fantine's suffering is over
And I speak here with her voice
And I stand here in her place
And from this day and evermore
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Let me have your coat, M'sieur
Valjean:
Cosette shall live in my protection
Th閚ardier:
You are very welcome here
Valjean:
I will not forsake my vow
Th閚ardier:
Take a glass
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Take a chair
Valjean:
Cosette shall have a father now!

The Th閚ardier Waltz of Treachery

Th閚ardier:
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
He pays them.
Let us not talk of bargains or bones or greed
Now, may I say, we are agreed?
Mme. Th閚ardier:
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. and Mme. Th閚ardier:
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 some friendlier sky.
Thank you both for Cosette
It won't take you too long to forget.
Valjean and Cosette leave the inn.
Come, Cosette, come, my dear
From now on I will always be here
Where I go, you will be.
Cosette:
Will there be children and castles to see?
Valjean:
Yes, Cosette, yes, it's true.
There's a castle just waiting for you.
Valjean & Cosette:
La la la la la...

Look Down

1832. The teeming, squalid streets of Paris. Beggars, urchins, prostitutes, students, etc.

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
An old beggar woman finds a young prostitute occupying her pitch.

Old Beggar Woman:
What 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 me 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
Enjolras:
Where the leaders of the land?
Where are the swells who run this 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 judgement day?
Before we cut the fat ones down to size?
Before the barricades arise?
Gavroche:
Watch out for old Th閚ardier
All of his family's on the make
Once ran a hash-house down the way
Bit of a swine and no mistake
He's got a gang
The bleeding layabout
Even his daughter does her share
That's Eponine, she knows her way about
Only a kid, but hard to scare
Do we care?
Not a cuss
Long live us.
Long live us!
Beggars:
Look down and show some mercy if you can
Look down, look down upon your fellow man!

The Robbery

Th閚ardier assembling his gang.

Th閚ardier:
Everyone here, you know your place
Brujon, Babet, Claquesous
You, Montparnasse, watch for the law
With Eponine take care
You turn on the tears
No mistakes, my dears
Mme. Th閚ardier:
These bloody students on our street
Here they come slumming once again
Our Eponine would kiss their feet
She never had a scrap of brain
Marius:
Hey, Eponine, what's up today?
I haven't seen you much about.
Eponine:
Here you can always catch me in.
Marius:
Mind the police don't catch you out!
Eponine:
Here, wotcher do with all them books?
I could have been a student too!
Don't judge a girl on how she looks.
I know a lot of things, I do!
Marius
Poor Eponine, the things you know
You wouldn't find in books like these.
Eponine:
I like the way you grow your hair
Marius:
I like the way you always tease
Eponine:
Little he knows!
Little he sees!
Valjean arrives with Cosette, now grown up.

Mme. Th閚ardier:
Here's the old boy. Stay on the job and watch out for the law.
Eponine: (to Marius)
Stay out of this.
Marius:
But Eponine...
Eponine:
You'll be in trouble here
It's not your concern
You'll be in the clear
She pushes Marius away.

Marius:
Who is that man?
Eponine:
Leave me alone!
Marius:
Why is he here? Hey, Eponine!
He tries to follow her, and bumps into Cosette.
I didn't see you there, forgive me.
Th閚ardier:
Please m'sieur, come this way
Here's a child that ain't eaten today.
Save a life, spare a sou
God rewards all the good that you do.
Wait a bit. Know that face.
Ain't the world a remarkable place?
Men like me don't forget
You're the bastard who borrowed Cosette!
Th閚ardier grabs Valjean and rips open his shirt, revealing the number on his chest.

Valjean:
What is this? Are you mad?
No, Monsieur, you don't know what you do!
Th閚ardier:
You know me, you know me.
I'm a con, just like you.
Eponine:
It's the police! Disappear!
Run for it! It's Javert!

Javert's Intervention

Javert and his constables break up the fight. Valjean picks himself up and looks for Cosette, who is with Marius.

Javert:
Another brawl in the square
Another stink in the air!
Was there a witness to this? (Marius steps forward)
Well, let him speak to Javert!
M'sieur, the streets are not safe,
But let these vermin beware
We'll see that justice is done!

Look upon this fine collection
Crawled from underneath a stone
This swarm of worms and maggots
Could have picked you to the bone!
I know this man over here
I know his name and his trade
And on your witness, M'sieur,
We'll see him suitably paid.
Valjean and Cosette have disappeared.
But where's the gentleman gone?
And why on earth did he run?
Marius runs off to find Cosette

Th閚ardier:
You will have a job to catch him
He's the one you should arrest
No more bourgeois when you scratch him
Than that brand upon his chest!
The constables search for Valjean.

Javert:
Could it be he's some old jailbird
That the tide now washes in
Heard my name and started running
Had the brand upon his skin
And the girl who stood beside him
When I turned they both had gone
Could he be the man I've hunted?
Could it be he's Jean Valjean?
Th閚ardier:
In the absence of a victim,
Dear Inspector, may I go?
And remember when you've nicked him,
It was me who told you so!
Javert:
Let the old man keep on running
I will run him off his feet!

Everyone about your business!
Clear this garbage off the street!

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
Mine is the way of the Lord
And those who 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 is 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!

Gavroche:
That inspector thinks he's something
But it's me who runs this town!
And my theater never closes
And the curtain's never down
Trust Gavroche, have no fear
Don't you worry, auntie dear,
You can always find me here!

Eponine's Errand

Eponine is alone in the square.

Eponine:
Cosette! Now I remember!
Cosette! How can it be?
We were children together
Look what's become of me...
Marius returns.
Good God! Ooh, what a rumpus!
Marius:
That girl, who can she be?
Eponine:
That cop! He'd like to jump us
But he ain't smart, not he.
Marius:
Eponine, who was that girl?
Eponine:
Some bourgeois two-a-penny thing!
Marius:
Eponine, find her for me!
Eponine:
What will you give me?
Marius:
Anything!
Eponine:
Got you all excited now,
But God knows what you see in her
Ain't you all delighted now
She refuses Marius' money.
No, I don't want your money sir...
Marius:
Eponine! Do this for me...
Discover where she lives
But careful how you go
Don't let your father know
'Ponine! I'm lost until she's found!
Eponine:
You see, I told you so!
There's lots of things I know
Marius leaves.
'Ponine... she knows her way around!

The ABC Caf?- Red and Black

The ABC Caf? where the students, led by Enjolras, meet to discuss their revolutionary plans.

Combeferre:
At Notre Dame the sections are prepared!
Feuilly:
At rue de Bac they're straining at the leash!
Courfeyrac:
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 enters.
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, and she was gone!
Grantaire:
I am agog!
I am aghast!
Is Marius in love at last?
I've never heard 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 the world may be changed
In just one burst of light!
And what was right seems wrong
And what was wrong seems right!
Grantaire:
Red...
Marius:
I feel my soul on fire!
Grantaire:
Black...
Marius:
My world if she's not there!
All:
Red...
Marius:
The color of desire!
All:
Black...
Marius:
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 toward a larger goal
Our little lives don't count at all!
All:
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?
Feuilly, Combeferre, our time is running short.
Grantaire, put the 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:
In St. Antoine they're with us to a man!
Combeferre:
In Notre Dame they're tearing up the stones!
Feuilly:
Twenty rifles good as new!
Gavroche rushes in shouting.
Gavroche:
Listen!
Joly:
Twenty rounds for every man!
Gavroche:
Listen to me!
Jean Prouvaire:
Double that in Port St. Cloud!
Gavroche:
Listen everybody!
Lesgles:
Seven guns in St. Martin!
Gavroche:
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 flame
They will see that the day of salvation is near!
The time is near!
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 a 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!
All:
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a 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!
All:
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a 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 stands in her garden on Rue Plumet.

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 faraway 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!
Valjean:
Dear Cosette,
You're such a lonely child
How pensive, how sad you seem to me
Believe me, were it within my power
I'd fill each passing hour
How quiet it must be, I can see
With only me for company.
Cosette:
There's so little I know
That I'm longing to know
Of the child that I was
In a time long ago...
There's so little you say
Of the life you have known
Why you keep to yourself
Why we're always alone
So dark! So dark and deep...
The secrets that you keep!

In my life
I have all that I want
You are loving and gentle and good
But Papa, dear Papa,
In your eyes I am just like a child
Who is lost in a wood
Valjean:
No more words
No more words. It's a time that is dead
There are words
That are better unheard,
Better unsaid.
Cosette:
In my life
I'm no longer a child and I yearn
For the truth that you know
Of the years... years ago!
Valjean:
You will learn
Truth is given by God
To us all in our time
In our turn
Valjean leaves the garden. Marius and Eponine arrive outside.

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: (to herself)
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 here

A Heart Full of Love

Marius goes into the garden, leaving Eponine outside the gate.

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: (Interjecting)
He was never mine to lose
Why regret what cannot be?
These are words he'll never say
Not to me...
Not to me...
Not to me...
His heart full of love
He will never feel this way...
Marius and Cosette move away as Montparnasse enters furtively

The Attack on Rue Plumet

Eponine:
'Parnasse, what are you doing
So far out of our patch?
Montparnasse:
This house, we're going to do it
Rich man, plenty of scratch
You remember he's the one
Who got away the other day
Got a number on his chest
Perhaps a fortune put away!
Eponine:
Oh Lord, somebody help me!
Dear God, what'll I do?
He'll think this is an ambush
He'll think I'm in it too!

What'll I do, what'll I say?
I've got to warn them here
I've got to find a way.
Th閚ardier arrives with the rest of his gang.

Th閚ardier:
This is his lair
I've seen the old fox around
He keeps himself to himself
He's staying 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 me my share
Finish the job!
Th閚ardier:
You shut your mouth
Give me your hand
Brujon (catching sight of Eponine);
What have we here?
Th閚ardier: (not recognizing her):
Who is this hussy?
Babet
It's your brat Eponine
Don't you know your own kid
Why's she hanging about you?
Th閚ardier:
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
Th閚ardier:
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 all
Montparnasse:
Go home, 'Ponine,
Go home, you're in the way
Eponine:
I'm gonna scream, I'm gonna warn them here.
Th閚ardier:
One little scream and you'll regret it for a year.
Claquesous
What a palaver
What an absolute treat
To watch a cat and its 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...
She screams.
Th閚ardier:
You wait my girl, you'll rue this night
I'll make you scream, you'll scream all right
Leave her to me, don't wait around
Make for the sewers, go underground!
The gang scatters. Marius and Cosette run back into the garden and he hurriedly introduces Eponine before she takes off.
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!
Marius leaves quickly as Valjean enters.

Valjean:
My God, 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 is a warning to us all
These are the shadows of the past
Must be Javert!
He's found my cover at last!
I've got to get Cosette away
Before they return!

We must get away from shadows
They 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?
All:
The time is now, the day is here
Valjean:
One day more!
Javert:
One more day 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!
M. & Mme. Th閚ardier:
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!
Students (2 Groups):
1: One day to a new beginning
2: Raise the flag of freedom high!
1: Every man will be a king
2: Every man will be a king
1: There's a new world for the winning
2: There's a new world to be won
All:
Do you hear the people sing?
Marius:
My place is here, I fight with you!
Valjean:
One day more!
Marius & Cosette:  Javert: (overlapping):
I did not live until  I will join these people's heros
today.   I will follow where they go
Eponine: One more day I will learn their little secrets,
all on my own!  I will know the things
M & C: How can I live they know.
when we are parted?  

Valjean:
One day more!

Marius & Cosette: Javert: Th閚ardiers:
Tomorrow you'll be One more day to  We will nip it in the bud
worlds away revolution Watch 'em run amok
Eponine: What a life I  We'll be ready for Catch 'em as they fall
might have known! these Schoolboys Never know your luck
M & C: And yet with When there's a
you my world has  free-for-all!
started

Valjean:
Tomorrow we'll be far away,
Tomorrow is the judgement day
All:
Tomorrow we'll discover
What our God in Heaven has in store!
One more dawn
One more day
One day more!
The curtain falls.

Upon These Stones - Building the Barricade

Enjolras is addressing the revolutionaries.

Enjolras:
Here upon these stones
We will build our barricade
In the heart of the city
We claim as our own!
Each man to his duty
And don't be afraid.
Wait! I will need a report
On the strength of the foe.
Javert (disguised as a rebel):
I can find out the truth
I know their ways
Fought their wars
Served my time
In the days
Of my youth.
Prouvaire:
Now the people will fight
Grantaire:
And so they might
Dogs will bark
Fleas will bite.
Lesgles:
They will do what is right!
Marius spots Eponine, who is dressed as a boy.
Marius:
Hey, little boy, what's this I see?
God, Eponine, the things you do!
Eponine:
I know this is no place for me,
Still, I would rather be with you!
Marius:
Get out before the trouble starts.
Get out, 'Ponine, you might get shot!
Eponine:
I've got you worried now, I have
That shows you like me quite a lot!
Marius:
There is a way that you can help
You are the answer to a prayer!
Please take this letter to Cosette
And pray to God that she's still there!
Eponine:
Little you know!
Little you care!
She walks to the Rue Plumet, where she meets Valjean.
Eponine:
I have a letter M'sieur
It's addressed to your daughter, Cosette
It's from a boy at the barricade, Sir,
In the Rue de Villette.
Valjean:
Give me that letter here, my boy.
Eponine:
He said to give it to Cosette
Valjean:
You have my word that my daughter will know
What this letter contains.
He gives her a coin.
Tell the young man she will read it tomorrow
And here's for your pains
Go careful now, stay out of sight
There's danger in the streets tonight.
He opens the letter... and reads it.
"Dearest Cosette, you have entered my soul
And soon you will be gone.
Can it be only a day since we met
And the world was reborn?
If I should fall in the battle to come
Let this be my goodbye...
Now that I know you love me as well
It is harder to die...
I pray that god will bring me home
To be with you.
Pray for your Marius. He prays for you!"
Valjean goes in, leaving Eponine alone.

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 every day 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.

Building the Barricade

The barricade is now complete.

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
That 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!

Javert's Arrival

Army Officer (offstage, with a loud-bailer):
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 climbs over the barricade.

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 the danger is real
We will need all our cunning
To bring them to heel.
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 overheard their plans
There will be no attack tonight
They intend to starve us out
Before they start a proper fight
Concentrate their force
Hit us from the right.

Little People

Gavroche:
Liar!
Good evening, dear inspector
Lovely evening, my dear.
I know this man, my friends
His name is 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've 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!
Grantaire:
Bravo, little Gavroche, you're the top of the class!
Prouvaire:
So what are we going to 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 the bastard now and shoot him!
Feuilly:
Let us watch the devil dance!
Lesgles:
You'd have done the same, Inspector,
If we'd let you have your chance!
Javert:
Shoot me now or shoot me later
Every schoolboy to his sport
Death to each and every traitor
I renounce your people's court!
Combeferre:
Though we may not all survive here
There are things that never die
Grantaire:
What's the difference, die a schoolboy,
Die a policeman, die a spy?
 Enjolras:
Take this man, bring him through
There is work we have to do!
Javert is bundled away as the first shots ring out.
Eponine enters, wounded.

Joly:
There's a boy climbing the barricade!
Marius:
Good God! What are you doing?
'Ponine, have you no fear?
Have you seen my beloved?
Why have you come back here?
Eponine:
Took the letter like you said
I met her father at the door
He said he would give it
She collapses in his arms
Don't think I can stand any more.
Marius:
Eponine, what's wrong? I feel...
There's something wet upon your hair
There is blood on his hands
Eponine, you're hurt
You need some help!
Oh God, it's everywhere....

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
Eponine:   Marius: (in counterpoint)
So don't you fret, M'sieur MariusHush-a-bye, dear Eponine,
I don't feel any pain You won't feel any pain
A little fall of rain  A little fall of rain
Can hardly hurt me now Can hardly hurt you now

Marius:
I'm here
Eponine:
That's all I need to know
Eponine:   Marius: (in counterpoint)
 And you will keep me safe I will stay with you
 And you will keep me close Till you are sleeping

Eponine:
And rain...
Marius:
And rain...
Eponine:
Will make the flowers...
Marius:
Will make the flowers... grow...
She dies. Marius kisses her, then lays her on the ground.

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 her name
Prouvaire:
She will not die in vain.
Lesgles:
She will not be betrayed.
They carry her body off.

Night of Anguish

Valjean arrives, dressed as a soldier.

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:
There's 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 going to get it too...
Sentry:
They're getting ready to attack!

The First Attack

Enjolras gives Valjean a gun.

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 toward the barricade!
Student 2:
Troops behind them, fifty men or more!
Enjolras:
Fire!
Gunfire is heard.

Feuilly:
Sniper!
Valjean shoots a sniper who is aiming at Enjolras.

Lesgles:
See how they run away!
Grantaire:
By God we've won the day!
Enjolras:
They will be back again,
Make an attack again.
(To Valjean.)
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 is 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,
The man belongs to you.

The enemy may be regrouping. Hold yourself in readiness.
Come my friends, back to your positions.
The night is falling fast.
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 cuts the ropes which bind Javert.

Valjean:
You talk too much,
Your 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 to 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.
Valjean fires his gun into the air, Javert leaves quickly. Muted applause from the students who think Javert has been shot.

Enjolras:
Courfeyrac, you take the watch
They won't attack until it's light
Everybody stay awake
We must be ready for the fight
For the final fight
Let no one sleep tonight!

Drink With Me (The Night)

The defenders settle down for the night with wine and a song.

Enjolras:
Marius, rest.

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:
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?
All:
Drink with me to days gone by
To the life that used to be
Women:
At the shrine of friendship, never say die
Men:
Let the wine of friendship never run dry
All:
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?
Marius settles down to sleep.

Bring Him Home

Valjean is standing over Marius at the barricade.

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.

Dawn of Anguish

Dawn breaks.

Enjolras:
The people have not stirred
We are abandoned by those who still live in fear.
The people have not heard.
Yet we will not abandon those who cannot hear.
Let us not waste lives
Let all the women and fathers of children
Go from here.
Feuilly:
Drink with me to days gone by
Sing with me the songs we knew
All:
At the shrine of friendship
Raise your glass high
Let the wine of friendship
Never run dry
If I die, I die with you!

The Second Attack

The battle recommences.

Enjolras:
How do we stand, Feuilly? Make your report.
Feuilly:
We've guns enough, but ammunition's short
Marius:
Let me go into the streets
There are bodies all around
Ammunition to be had
Lots of bullets to be found!
Enjolras:
I won't let you go, it's too much of a chance!
Marius:
The same is true for any man here!
Valjean:
Let me go. He's no more than a boy.
I am old, I have nothing to fear.
Gavroche:
You need somebody quicker and I volunteer!
Gavroche climbs the barricade.

Lesgles:
Come back Gavroche, don't you dare!
Joly:
Someone pull him down at once!
Gavroche:
Look at me, I'm almost there!

The Death of Gavroche

(Gunshot.)
Gavroche:
Little people know, when
Little people fight, we
(Gunshot. Gavroche is wounded.)
May look easy pickings
But we've got some bite!
(He is hit again.)
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....
He dies.

The Final Battle

Army Officer (with loud hailer):
You at the barricade listen to this
The people of Paris sleep in their beds
You have no chance
No chance at all
Why throw your lives away?
Enjolras:
Let us die facing our foes
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!

Increasingly heavy gunfire. Marius is shot. Enjolras is killed at the summit of the barricade. All on the barricade are killed, except Marius, who is wounded and unconscious, and Valjean. Valjean discovers that Marius is still alive and carries him down into the sewers to escape.

Javert climbs over the barricade looking for Valjean's body. Not finding it, he realizes that Valjean must be in the sewers, so he goes off to where he must emerge.

Dog Eats Dog

Th閚ardier is picking through the corpses in the sewers.

Th閚ardier:
Here's a hint of gold
Stuck into a tooth
Pardon me M'sieur
You won't be needing it 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
You get accustomed to the smell.

Well someone's got to clean 'em 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!
Valjean arrives, carrying Marius, and collapses. Th閚ardier robs Marius.
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 another 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 dog eats the dog
Where they kill for bones in the street
And God in His Heaven
He don't interfere
'Cause 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!
He turns over Valjean's body, recognizes him, and leaves. Eventually, Valjean picks up Marius again and walks through the sewers. As they emerge, they meet Javert.

The Sewers

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: (overlapping):
Take him Valjean,
Before I change my mind
I will be waiting
24601.
Valjean carries Marius off.

Javert's Suicide

Javert walks the deserted streets until he comes to a bridge over the river Seine.

Javert:
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 whom 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....
He throws himself into the swollen river.

Turning

Women:
Did you see them
Going off to fight?
Children of the barricade
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 schoolboys
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?
All Women:
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 and round the roundabout and back where you began.
Round and round and back where you began!

Empty Chairs at Empty Tables

Marius, recovering from his wounds, imagines he is back at the ABC cafe.

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
The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear.
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.
The ghosts fade away.

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

Time has passed. Suggest Marius convalescing, encouraged by Cosette who takes his arm as he walks with firmer step.

Cosette:
Every day
You walk with stronger step
You walk 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.
Valjean enters, unnoticed.

Cosette:
A heart full of love
No fear no regret
`My name is Marius Pontmercy'
Marius:
Cosette, Cosette!
Cosette:
I saw you waiting and I knew.
Marius:
Waiting for you
At your feet
Cosette:
At your call
Both:
And it wasn't a dream
Not a dream after all
Valjean: (interjecting, to himself)
She was never mine to keep.
She is youthful, she is free.
Love is the garden of the young
Let it be... let it be...
A heart full of love
This I give you on this day.
They notice Valjean.

Marius:
M'sieur, this is a day
I can never forget.
Is gratitude enough
For giving me Cosette?
Your home shall be with us
And not a day shall pass
But we will prove our love
To you, whom we shall call
A father to us both
A father to us all.
Cosette leaves.

Valjean's Confession

Valjean:
Not another word my son,
There's something now that must be done.
You've spoken from the heart
And I must do the same
There is a story, sir,
Of slavery and shame
That you alone must know.

I never told Cosette
She had enough of tears
She's never known the truth-
The story you must hear
Of years ago.

There lived a man whose hame was Jean Valjean
He stole some bread to save his sister's son.
For nineteen winters served his time
In sweat he washed away his crime.
Years ago
He broke parole and lived a life apart
How could he tell Cosette and break her heart?
It's for Cosette this must be faced
If he is caught she is disgraced
The time has come to journey on
And from this day he must be gone
Who am I?
Who am I?
Marius:
You're Jean Valjean!
What can I do
That will turn you from this?
Monsieur, you cannot leave.
Whatever I tell my beloved Cosette
She will never believe!
Valjean:
Make her believe
I have gone on a journey
A long way away.
Tell her my heart was too full for farewells
It is better this way.
Promise me, M'sieur, Cosette will never know...
Marius:
I give my word.
Valjean:
...what I have spoken, why I must go.
Marius:
For the sake of Cosette, it must be so.

The Wedding Chorale

Marius and Cosette lead a wedding procession.

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.
The procession becomes a dancing celebration. A waltz is played.

Major Domo:
The Baron and Baroness de Th閚ard wish to pay their
respects to the groom!
Th閚ardier:
I forget where we met
Was it not at the Chateau Lafarge
Where the Duke did that puke
Down the Duchess's de-coll-etage?
Marius:
No, `Baron de Th閚ard'
The circles I move in are humbler by far.
Go away, Th閚ardier!
Do you think I don't know who you are?
Mme. Th閚ardier:
He's not fooled. Told you so.
Show M'sieur what you've come here to show.
Tell the boy what you know!
Applause from the dancers as the waltz finishes.
Marius:
When I look at you, I remember Eponine.
She was more than you deserved, who gave her birth
But now she is with God and happier, I hope,
Than here on earth!
The waltz starts up again.
Th閚ardier:
So it goes, heaven knows
Life has dealt me some terrible blows.
Mme. Th閚ardier:
You've got cash and a heart
You could give us a bit of a start!
We can prove, plain as ink
Your bride's father is not what you think.
Th閚ardier:
There's a tale I could tell
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Information we're willing to sell...
Th閚ardier:
There's a man that he slew
I saw the corpse clear as I'm seeing you!
What I tell you is true!
Mme. Th閚ardier:
Pity to disturb you at a feast like this
But five hundred francs surely wouldn't come amiss.
Marius:
In God's name say what you have to say.
Th閚ardier:
But first you pay!
What I saw, clear as light,
Jean Valjean in the sewers that night.
Had this corpse on his back
Hanging there like a bloody great sack.
I was there, never fear.
Even found me this fine souvenir!
Th閚ardier shows Marius a ring.
Marius:
I know this! This was mine!
Surely this is some heavenly sign!
Th閚ardier:
One thing more, mark this well
It was the night the barricades fell.
Marius:
Then it's true, then I'm right
Jean Valjean was my savior that night!
Marius punches Th閚ardier and then throws money at him.
As for you, take this too!
God forgive the things that we do.
Come my love, come Cosette,
This day's blessings are not over yet!
Marius and Cosette leave.

Beggars at the Feast

Th閚ardier:
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 pickings
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. and Mme. Th閚ardier:
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

Valjean is alone in the shadows, with a bare wooden cross for company.

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's spirit appears to Valjean.

Fantine:    Valjean: (interjecting)
M'sieur, I bless your name  I am ready, Fantine
M'sieur, lay down your burden At the end of my days
You raised my child in love  She's the best of my life.
And you will be with god.

Marius and Cosette rush into the room; they do not see Fantine.

Cosette:
Papa, Papa, I do not understand!
Are you alright? 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: (to Cosette)
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 goodbye!
Valjean:
Yes, Cosette, forbid me now 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 the story
Of those who always loved you.
Your mother gave her life for you
Then gave you to my keeping.
The other spirits, including Eponine appear.

Fantine:
Come with me
Where chains will never bind you
All your grief
At last, 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 and Eponine:
Take my hand
And lead me to salvation.
Take my love,
For love is everlasting.
Valjean, Fantine, and Eponine:
And remember
The truth that once was spoken
To love another person
Is to see the face of God!

Finale

Chorus:
Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a 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 the plough-share,
They will put away the sword.
The 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!

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...
Tomorrow comes!

The curtain falls.