With everything that has been going on, I was caught completely off guard when I got in my car to travel to a tutoring session. Every year for a period of time, post-Christmas, I find myself listening to a USB stick of Sound-tracks while driving. Not five minutes into the drive, the song “Do You Hear the People Sing,” from Les Miserables came on and I became a bit misty.
“Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the 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!
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?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free! ~ Les Miserables Cast
In 2016, apparently this song was used in the Trump campaign, but I think unsuccessfully. I never heard any singing – a lot of bleating, perhaps – but no singing.
The mistiness was not from hopelessness, but hopefulness. With amazing children and future adults, like Emma Gonzalez, Cameron Kasky and other children from Stoneman Douglas, who are standing up and calling out the adults who should be fighting for them, and the people including me, who are rallying with them, I am hopeful.
Finally, I can hear the people sing.
L. Rose
Find your breath and keep singing, even past November 2018. ~ Linda
Scattered Notebooks 
Perfect song & sentiment. ❤️ P.S.- I think that the Trump campaign used the lesser known verses that include the lines “Lock her up” & “Build the Wall.” 🎶
LikeLiked by 1 person
🤣-heh, heh- likely. Yeah, it was an odd moment, but kind of beautiful, too.
LikeLiked by 1 person
This song keeps on constantly being stuck in my dead
LikeLiked by 1 person
And…I probably haven’t helped you any tonight 😋. I’ve been waking up with it in my head since it happened…
LikeLike
2012- I got my first full experience of Les Mis through the movie and I left the movie with that song stuck in my head. And to this day, there are still days when it gets stuck in my head.
My overall opinion of Les Mis: epic, passionate, powerful, inspirational, hopeful and highly emotional. Songs so brilliant and well-crafted that it perfectly complements the characters and songs. The characters are interconnected where they directly and indirectly impact each others lives. Still can go on and on about my love for the musical.
I am obsessed with the musical
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can see that!😉 I peeked at your blog and will check back when I can get to my PC.
Strangely my first experience was the soundtrack – then I read the book, so I could understand (I know, but I loved it!) – THEN I saw the movie. I would love to see the theatrical production; maybe someday.
LikeLike
Who knows how many times I had listened to the songs. Prior to Les Mis, I thought all musicals were happy and comical, and the main emotions were excitement, love, joy and sad.
Les Mis made me see musicals from a different prospect. It taught me yes, tragic musicals exist and yes, heartbreak is a musical emotion. But it still taught me a lot for. My high school self hated the idea of tragedies in theatre and thought they were just sad and nothing else so I ignored them and was like there is no way I am never going to love a tragedy ever. I even told myself that I will never love watching a death scene.
Les Mis challenged everything. I learned to love a tragedy, realized that tragic stories are not pure sad, more emotions exist in musicals that I originally thought, and yes death scenes can be memorable. Les Mis is that musical where I can’t pick my favorite song or even my favorite character
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think there is something immensely important about immersing oneself into all facets of life’s emotions, and most books, musicals, plays, movies – done well – have an uncanny ability to take the audience through them all without being overwhelming. Good for you for outgrowing your youthful perspective, and embracing the tragedy.
Thank you for commenting. ~ Linda
LikeLike
For me, Les Mis just works really well with tragedy. It goes beyond the tragedy. One of my most recent posts talks about each of the spiritual posts and talks about where each theme takes place.
Instead of calling all musicals happy, I changed the word to all musicals being joyful. Joyful in this sense is belonging to the actual experience. Even though you are feeling the characters’ emotions, you still are having this kind of joy feeling them. Some people don’t understand why I keep on watching Les Mis if it just so heartbreaking and even when I explain, they still don’t understand.
My first year of college was quite an important year because that was when Les Mis entered my life. There are two are other sad theatre shows I love, which are Rent and La Boheme. I don’t always love sad shows, which are either too boring or too emotionally disturbing. Sad shows work the best when it goes beyond the tragedy.
There is something about Les Mis that makes it worth seeing. Since I experienced the movie before the stage show, I don’t mind that some of the songs are shortened or that there is an original song, which is Suddenly.
So due to being quite shocked and confused that Les Mis is a tragedy, which I realized after Fantine’s death, I had no idea how to respond. By the end of the movie, I had no idea if I liked Les Mis or not, but started researching anyway. That is why I had to give it a second chance. Prior I also loved musicals all because of Wicked, but Les Mis turned that love into a passion. The only reason why I though all musicals were on the more happier and comical side growing up because that was all I had known so it took a lot of getting used to when Les Mis, a tragic musical, since I am was not used to type of thing. All because a tragic musical entered my life, the negative emotions I love even more and those sort of emotions are stronger than ever before.
LikeLike