Lovely Ladies
Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg Lyrics

I smell women Smell 'em in the air Think I'll drop my anchor In that harbor over there
The sailor smells women and decides to dock in a harbor where he can find them

Lovely ladies Smell 'em through the smoke Seven days at sea Can make you hungry for a poke
The sailors feel the needy for sex after being at sea for a long time and can smell prostitutes nearby

Even stokers need a little stoke!
Even stokers, who work on ships' boilers, need some sexual relief sometimes

Lovely ladies Waiting for a bite Waiting for the customers Who only come at night Lovely ladies Ready for the call Standing up or lying down Or any way at all Bargain prices up against the wall
Prostitutes waiting for clients who come only at night and who are willing to satisfy their needs in any position at a cheap price

Come here, my dear Let's see this trinket you wear This bagatelle...
An old woman asks to see Fantine's necklace

Madame, I'll sell it to you...
Fantine tries to sell her necklace to the old woman

I'll give you four That wouldn't pay for the chain!
The old woman offers to buy the necklace for four francs, but this wouldn't even pay for the cost of the chain

I'll give you five. You're far to eager to sell. It's up to you.
The old woman offers to pay five francs for the necklace, telling Fantine that she is too eager to sell and that the choice is up to her

It's all I have
Fantine agrees to sell the necklace for five francs because she has no other means of supporting herself

No more than five My dear, we all must stay alive!
The old woman refuses to pay more than five francs, citing the necessity of staying alive

Lovely ladies Waiting in the dark Ready for a thick one Or a quick one in the park Whore 1 Long time short time Any time, my dear Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!
Prostitutes wait in the darkness, ready for any kind of sexual encounter, charging extra for a longer duration of the service

Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!
The cheapest and quickest sexual encounters are found below the pier

What pretty hair! What pretty locks you got there What luck you got. It's worth a centime, my dear I'll take the lot
An old woman admires Fantine's hair and offers to buy all of it for a small amount of money

Don't touch me! Leave me alone!
Fantine tries to fend off the old woman's advances

Let's make a price. I'll give you all of ten francs, Just think of that!
The old woman raises her price to ten francs, tempting Fantine with the amount of money

It pays a debt Just think of that
Fantine accepts the old woman's offer to sell her hair for ten francs as she needs the money to pay off her debt

Ten francs may save my poor Cosette!
Fantine thinks that the ten francs she will receive for selling her hair may be able to save her daughter Cosette from poverty

Lovely lady! Fastest on the street Wasn't there three minutes She was back up on her feet
A prostitute is the fastest at providing sexual services, and returns to the street only three minutes after finishing with a client

Lovely lady! What yer waiting for? Doesn't take a lot of savvy Just to be a whore Come on, lady What's a lady for?
The sailors try to persuade Fantine to become a prostitute as it doesn't require much skill and they don't see any other usefulness of a woman

Give me the dirt, who's that bit over there? A bit of skirt. She's the one sold her hair. She's got a kid. Sends her all that she can I might have known There is always some man
The pimp inquires about Fantine and learns that she has sold her hair and has a daughter that she supports from afar. He laments that there is always a man causing problems

Lovely lady, come along and join us! Lovely lady! Come on dearie, why all the fuss? You're no grander than the rest of us Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap Join your sisters Make money in your sleep!
The other prostitutes encourage Fantine to join them, reminding her that they are all in the same situation and it's better to make easy money than struggle to survive

That's right dearie, let him have the lot That's right dearie, show him what you've got!
The other prostitutes cheer on Fantine as she goes off with one of the sailors to provide him with sexual services to earn money

Old men, young men, take 'em as they come Harbor rats and alley cats and every kind of scum Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land See them with their trousers off they're never quite as grand All it takes is money in your hand!
Prostitutes deal with customers from all walks of life, and money is the only thing that makes them equal

Lovely ladies Going for a song Got a lot of callers But they never stay for long
Prostitutes advertise themselves cheaply and get a lot of clients, but none stay for long

Come on, Captain, you can wear your shoes Don't it make a change To have a girl who can't refuse Easy money Lying on a bed Just as well they never see The hate that's in your head Don't they know they're making love To one already dead!
Fantine agrees to provide sexual services to the sailor, who is happy to have someone who can't say no, and Fantine doesn't want him to see or know about her emotional pain