Prologue / Look Down Lyrics & Tabs by Les Misérables 2010 Cast
Prologue / Look Down
guitar chords lyrics
1815, TOULON
(The sun beats down on a chain gang who work in a field. Wardens watch over them with a fearsome eye.)
CONVICTS
Look down, look down.
Don't look ‘em in the eye.
Look down, look down.
You're here until you die.
CONVICT 1
The sun is strong!
It's hot as Hell below...
CONVICTS
Look down, look down.
There's 20 years to go...
CONVICT 2
I've done no wrong.
There's 20 years to go...
CONVICT 2
I've done no wrong.
Sweet Jesus, hear my prayer!
CONVICT
Look down, look down.
Sweet Jesus doesn't care...
CONVICT 3
I know she'll wait.
I know that she'll be true.
CONVICTS
Look down, look down.
They've all forgotten you...
CONVICT 4
When I get free,
You won't see me
‘Ere for dust!
CONVICTS
Look down, look down.
Don't look ‘em in the eye.
CONVICT 5
How long, O Lord, before you let me die?
CONVICTS
Look down, look down.
You'll always be a slave.
Look down, look down.
You're standing in your grave.
(Javert, head of the Toulon Prison Guard, enters, nightstick in one hand, parole-book in the other. He searches the prison ground.)
JAVERT
Now, bring me Prisoner 24, 601!
Your time is up,
And your parole has 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, 24, 601!
VALJEAN
My name is Jean Valjean!
JAVERT
And I'm Javert!
Do not forget my name.
Do not forget me, 24, 601.
CONVICTS
Look down, look down…
You're standing in your grave…
Look down, look down…
You'll always be a slave…
(Valjean leaves Toulon Prison, ticket-of-leave in hand.)
VALJEAN
Freedom, at last.
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!
But, 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!
(Valjean works at a farm, but is looked down upon for being a convict.)
EMPLOYER
You'll have to go. I'll pay you off for the day!
Collect your bits n' 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!
EMPLOYEE
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!"
(Valjean is fired from the farm.)
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'll leave my house,
Or feel the weight of' my rod!
We're law-abiding people here,
Thanks be to God!
(He is thrown out of the inn.)
VALJEAN
And now, I know freedom feels.
The jailer always at your heels,
It is the law!
This piece of paper in my hand,
It makes me cursed throughout the land!
It is the law!
Like a cur, I walk the street.
The dirt beneath their feet...
(He rests next to the house of 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 19 years:
That life time of despair.
...And yet, he trusted me...
The 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!
(Valjean steals the silver from the Bishop, only to be thrown back by two constables.)
CONSTABLE 1
Tell His Reverence your story!
CONSTABLE 2
Let us see if he's impressed!
CONSTABLE 1
You were lodging here last night!
CONSTABLE 2
You were the honest Bishop's guest.
And then, out of Christian goodness,
When he heard about your plight
CONSTABLE 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.
(He hands 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.
(The constable leave, and the Bishop helps Valjean up.)
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!
(The Bishop departs, leaving Valjean alone. Valjean sobs softly, alone.)
