Prologue-work Song Lyrics

Prologue-work Song lyrics

[1815, Toulon, France. The chain gang, overseen by



 brutal warders, works in the sun.]



 



 Prisoners



 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 ya won't see me



 Here for dust!



 Look down, look down



 Don't look 'em in the eye



 How long O 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 theif



 



 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



 And you will starve again



 Unless you learn the meaning of the law.



 



 Valjean



 I know the meaning of these 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 will 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 waiting.



 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've 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.]



 



 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 my 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's 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.]