Look down, look down, don't look them 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, you've 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 here for dust!
Look down, look down, don't look them in the eye
How long, oh 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 windowpane
My sisters' 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 I spent 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
~~~~~
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 maintained he made a present of this silver
--That is right.
But my friend, you left so early, something clearly 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 gods' blessing go with you
And 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
I have raised you out of darkness, I have bought your soul for God
~~~~~
What have I done, sweet Jesus what have I done?
Become a thief in the night, become a dog on the run?
Have I fallen so far, run as the owl so late, that nothing remains but the cry of my hate?
The cries of the dark that nobody hears
Here I stand at the turning of the years
If there's another way to go, I missed it twenty long years ago
My life was a war that could never be won
They gave me a number and murdered Valjean
When they chained me and left me for dead
Just for stealing a mouthful of bread
Yet why did I allow that man to touch my soul and teach me love?
He treated me like any other
He gave me his trust, he called me brother
My life he claims for god above, can such things be?
For I had come to hate the world, this world that always hated me
Take an eye for an eye, turn your heart into stone
This is all I have lived for, this is all I have known
One word from him, and I'd be back
Beneath the lash, upon the rack
Instead he offered me my freedom
I feel my pain inside me like a knife
He told me that I had a soul, how does he know?
What spirit comes to move my life? Is there another way to go?
I am reaching, but I fall, and the night is closing in
As I stare into the void of the whirlpool of my sin
I'll escape now from the world, from the world of Jean Valjean
Jean Valjean is nothing now, another story must begin!