Les Mis: Do You Hear the People Sing?/The french revolution

 the official Logo of Les Miserables

The musical Les Miserables, based off of the book by Victor Hugo, is still known by many people today, even thingh it was written in 1985. The story starts in France in 1815, and tells the story of Jean Valjean, a prisoner who after 19 years in jail for stealing ONE loaf of BREAD, has been released. Later it tells of an attempt at a revolution from the upper class of France. The song Do You Hear the People Sing? is the rally song of the protesters.


The lyrics of the songs are:


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!

                                                                                   The storming of the Bastille
The French revolution was from 1789–1799. it was a time of bloody rebelion against the french rulers. The rebelion succeeded,but the problem was (Obviously, given the time period of Les Mis) not really fixed. Even after the reign of terror, which happened aftet the revolution, and ended with the beheading of the revolutions leader, was over, the new rulers turned into tyrants just like the preious. 


Now, your probubly wondering what these to events have in common. The french revolution was guided by almoist exacly the same mentality as described in Do You Hear the People Sing? They were called to fight against the government, fight for the "Freedom" of their people. The people who fought in the French revolutions hearts deffinatly "Echoed the beating of the drums" they marched on the Bastille, "Singing the songs of angry men" and eventualy, they won the battle, over the dead bodies of their fallen comerades. They found the world they longed to see, beyond the baracaide. Only, the world they longed to see wasn't really as great as they thought. The fighters in Les Mis lost the battle, and most of them ended up dead.

A preformance of Les Miserables, on the barricade

Listen to the song Here