Lyrics Prologue - Les Misérables: Complete Symphonic Recording

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
'Ere for dust.

Look down! Look down!
Don't look 'em in the eye.

How long, Dear 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.

Now bring me prisoner 24601,
Your time is up and your parole's begun. You know what that means.

Yes, It means I'm free

No, It means you get your yellow ticket-of-leave.
You are a thief!

I stole a loaf of bread

You robbed a house

I broke a window pane.
My sister's child was close to death.
And we were starving.

You will starve again unless you learn the meaning of the law.

I know the meaning of those nineteen years.
A slave of the law.

Five years for what you did.
The rest because you tried to run.
Yes, 24601.

My name is Jean Valjean!

And I'm Javert!
Do not forget my name.
Do not forget me, 24601

Look down! Look down!
You'll always be a slave.
Look down! Look down!
You're standing in your grave.

Freedom is mine.
The Earth is still.
I feel the wind.
I breathe again.
And the sky clears.
The world is waking.

I 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.

You'll have to go.
I'll pay you off for the day.
Collect your bits and pieces there
And be on your way.

You have given me half
What the other men get.
This handful of tin
Wouldn't buy my sweat!

You broke the law.
It's there for people to see.
Why should you get the same
As honest men like me?

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 "

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.

I will pay in advance,
I can sleep in a barn.
You see how dark it is
I'm not some kind of dog.

You leave my house!
Or feel the weight of my rod.
We're law abiding people here.
Thanks be to God.

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.

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 'til morning.
Rest from pain, and rest from wrong.

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!

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.

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.