Valjean

It's you, Javert

I knew you wouldn't wait too long

The faithful servant at his post once more!

This man's done no wrong,

And he needs a doctor's care.

Javert

I warned you I would not give in

I won't be swayed

Valjean

Another hour yet

And then I'm yours

And all our debts are paid.

Javert

The man of mercy

Comes again

And talks of justice

Valjean

Come, time is running short

Look down, Javert

He's standing in his grave

Give way, Javert

There is a life to save.

Javert

Take him Valjean,

Before I change my mind

I will be waiting

24601.

[Valjean carries Marius off.]

JAVERT'S SUICIDE

[Javert walks the deserted streets until he comes to a bridge over the river Seine.]

Javert

Who is this man?

What sort of devil is he?

To have me caught in a trap

And choose to let me go free?

It was his hour at last

To put a seal on my fate

Wipe out the past

And wash me clean off the slate!

All it would take

Was a flick of his knife

Vengence was his

And he gave me back my life!

Damned if I'll live in the debt of a theif!

Damned if I'll yield at the end of the chase.

I am the Law and the Law is not mocked

I'll spit his pity right back in his face

There is nothing on earth that we share

It is either Valjean or Javert!

How can I now allow this man

To hold dominion over me?

This desperate man whom I have hunted

He gave me my life, he gave me freedom.

I should have perished by his hand!

It was his right.

It was my right to die as well

Instead I live, but live in hell!

And my thoughts fly apart

Can this man be believed?

Shall his sins be forgiven?

Shall his crimes be reprieved?

And must I now begin to doubt

Who never doubted all these years?

My heart is stone and still it trembles

The world I have known is lost in shadow.

Is he from heaven or from hell?

And does he know

That granting me my life today

This man has killed me even so?

I am reaching, but I fall

And the stars are black and cold.

As I stare into the void

Of a world that cannot hold

I'll escape now from the world

From the world of Jean Valjean

There is nowhere I can turn

There is no way to go on.....

[He throws himself into the swollen river.]

TURNING

[The women of Paris mourn their lost loved ones.]

Women

Did you see them

Going off to fight?

Children of the barricade

Who didn't last the night?

Did you see them

Lying where they died?

Someone used to cradle them

And kiss them when they cried.

Did you see them

Lying side by side?

Who will wake them?

No one ever will.

No one ever told them

That a summer day can kill.

They were schoolboys

Never held a gun

Fighting for a new world

That would rise up like the sun

Where's that new world

Now the fighting's done?

Nothing changes, nothing ever will

Every year another brat, another mouth to fill.

Same old story, what's the use of tears?

What's the use of praying if there's nobody who hears?

Turning, turning, turning, turning, turning

Through the years.

Turning, turning, turning through the years

Minutes into hours and the hours into years.

Nothing changes, nothing ever can

Round and round the roundabout and back where you began!

Round and round and back where you began!

EMPTY CHAIRS AT EMPTY TABLES

[Marius, recovering from his wounds, imagines he's back at the ABC cafe.]

Marius

There's a grief that can't be spoken

There's a pain goes on and on

Empty chairs at empty tables

Now my friends are dead and gone

Here they talked of revolution

Here it was they lit the flame

Here they sang about tomorrow

And tomorrow never came.

From the table in the corner

They could see a world reborn

And they rose with voices ringing

I can hear them now!

The very words that they had sung

Became their last communion

On the lowly barricade..

At dawn.

Oh my friends, my friends forgive me.

[The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear.]

That I live and you are gone

There's a grief that can't be spoken

There's a pain goes on and on

Phantom faces at the window

Phantom shadows on the floor

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friends will meet no more.

[The ghosts fade away.]

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me

What your sacrifice was for

Empty chairs at empty tables

Where my friends will sing no more...

EVERY DAY

[Cosette arrives to help Marius in his recovery.]

Cosette

Every day

You walk with stronger step

You walk with longer step

The worst is over

Marius

Every day

I wonder every day

Who was it brought me here

From the barricade?

Cosette

Don't think about it, Marius.

With all the years ahead of us!

I will never go away

And we will be together

Every day. Every day,

We'll remember that night

And the vow that we made:

`A heart full of love

A night full of you'

The words are old

But always true

Oh, God, for shame

You did not even know my name.

Marius

Dear Mad'moiselle

I was lost in your spell.

[Valjean enters, unnoticed.]

Cosette

A heart full of love

No fear no regret

`My name is Marius Pontmercy'

Marius

Cosette, Cosette!

Cosette

I saw you waiting and I knew.

Marius

Waiting for you

At your feet

Cosette

At your call

Both

And it wasn't a dream

Not a dream

After all

Valjean (interjections)

She was never mine to keep

She is youthful

She is free.

Love is the garden of the young

Let it be

Let it be

A heart full of love

This I give you

On this day.

[They notice Valjean.]

Marius

M'sieur, this is a day

I can never forget

Is gratitude enough

For giving me Cosette?

Your home shall be with us

And not a day shall pass

But will will prove our love

To you, whom we shall call

A father to us both

A father to us all.

[Cosette leaves.]

VALJEAN'S CONFESSION