Epilogue
Eddie Redmayne Amanda Seyfried Hugh Jackman Les Misérables Cast Colm Wilkinson and Anne Hathaway Lyrics


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Monsieur, I bless your name
I am ready Fantine!
Monsieur, lay down your burden
At the end of my days
You’ve raised my child with love
She’s the best of my life
And you will be with God
Papa, papa, I do not understand
Are you all right?
Why did you go away

Cosette, my child
Am I forgiven now?
Thank god, thank god
I’ve lived to see this day

It’s you who must forgive a thoughtless fool
It’s you who must forgive a thankless man
It’s thanks to you that I am living
And again I lay down my life at your feet
Cosette, your father is a saint
When they wounded me
He took me from the barricade
Carried like a babe
And brought me home
To you

Now you are here
Again beside me
Now I can die in peace
For now my life is blessed

You will live, Papa, you're going to live
It's too soon, too soon to say goodbye!

Yes, Cosette, forbid me now to die
I'll obey
I will try.

On this page
I write my last confession
Read it well when I, at last, am sleeping
It's the story
Of one who turned from hating
The man who only learned to love
When you were in his keeping

Come with me
Where chains will never bind you
All your grief
At last, at last behind you
Lord in Heaven
Look down on him in mercy.

Forgive me all my trespasses
And take me to your glory.

Take my hand
I'll lead you to salvation
Take my love
For love is everlasting
And remember
The truth that once was spoken
To love another person
Is to see the face of God.

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of the people
Who are climbing to the light.

For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
and the sun will rise.

They will live again in freedom
In the garden of the Lord.
We will walk behind the plowshare
We will put away the sword.
The chain will be broken
And all men will have their reward.

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?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
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?
Do you hear the people sing?
Say, do you hear the distant drums?
It is the future that they bring
When tomorrow comes!

Ah!
Ah!




Ah!
Tomorrow comes!

Overall Meaning

The song Epilogue from Les Misérables is a heart-warming yet tear-jerking moment in the musical. It is the culmination of the characters' journeys and the message of redemption, love, and sacrifice. Fantine (Anne Hathaway) thanks Jean Valjean (Hugh Jackman) for raising her daughter, Cosette (Amanda Seyfried), with such love and care, and Valjean asks for forgiveness from Cosette for the mistakes he has made in his life. As Valjean dies, he tells Cosette that he will do anything to stay with her a little longer but ultimately accepts his fate. The song then ends with a reprise of Do You Hear The People Sing, which captures the hope and freedom that the characters and the audience alike are feeling.


Throughout the song, the characters grapple with their emotions and try to make sense of their experiences. The lyrics are poignant and full of meaning. It is a tribute to the power of love and forgiveness, and how even the most broken individuals can find redemption. The song's melody and orchestration are also noteworthy, perfectly capturing the mood and intensity of each moment.


Line by Line Meaning

Monsieur, I bless your name
I am grateful to you and I offer my blessings to you


I am ready Fantine!
I am prepared to leave this world and reunite with Fantine


Monsieur, lay down your burden
Please relieve yourself of the heavy burden you have carried for me


At the end of my days
When my life comes to a close


You’ve raised my child with love
You have taken care of my child with kindness and care


She’s the best of my life
My child is the most precious thing in my life


And you will be with God
You will go to heaven and be with God


Papa, papa, I do not understand
Dad, please explain what is happening. I don't understand.


Are you all right?
Dad, are you okay?


Why did you go away
Why did you leave me?


Cosette, my child
My dear daughter, Cosette


Am I forgiven now?
Will you forgive me now for my mistakes?


Thank god, thank god
I am grateful for this moment


I’ve lived to see this day
I am fortunate to have lived long enough to see this day


It’s you who must forgive a thoughtless fool
I was foolish, and you must forgive me for that


It’s you who must forgive a thankless man
I did not appreciate you as I should have, and you must forgive me for that


It’s thanks to you that I am living
You have saved my life and I am grateful for that


And again I lay down my life at your feet
I offer my full devotion to you once again


Cosette, your father is a saint
Your father is a virtuous and holy man


When they wounded me
When I was injured


He took me from the barricade
He rescued me from the battle


Carried like a babe
He held me gently like a child


And brought me home
He brought me to safety


To you
To your loving care


Now you are here
You are here with me now


Again beside me
Next to me once more


Now I can die in peace
I can finally rest in peace


For now my life is blessed
My life is complete and blessed now that you are here


You will live, Papa, you're going to live
You will make it through this, Dad, you will live


It's too soon, too soon to say goodbye!
It's too early to say farewell


Yes, Cosette, forbid me now to die
Yes, Cosette, please don't let me die yet


I'll obey
I will do as you wish


On this page
In this note


I write my last confession
I am writing my final confession


Read it well when I, at last, am sleeping
Please take your time to read it when I am no longer living


It's the story
This is the tale


Of one who turned from hating
Of someone who changed from hating others


The man who only learned to love
A man who only discovered how to love later in life


When you were in his keeping
When he was taking care of you


Come with me
Join me now


Where chains will never bind you
In a place where you will be forever free


All your grief
All your sorrow


At last, at last behind you
Will finally be left behind you


Lord in Heaven
God in heaven


Look down on him in mercy.
Please have mercy and look after him


Forgive me all my trespasses
Please forgive me for my mistakes


And take me to your glory.
Welcome me into your heavenly glory


Take my hand
Please take my hand


I'll lead you to salvation
I will guide you towards salvation


Take my love
Accept my love


For love is everlasting
Love is eternal


And remember
Please don't forget


The truth that once was spoken
The words of truth that were said before


To love another person
To truly love someone else


Is to see the face of God.
Is to experience the divine


Do you hear the people sing
Can you hear the voices of the people


Lost in the valley of the night?
Gone unseen in the darkness of the night?


It is the music of the people
It is the sound of the people's music


Who are climbing to the light.
Who are working toward a better future


For the wretched of the earth
For the poorest and most desperate among us


There is a flame that never dies.
There is a fire that burns eternal


Even the darkest night will end
Even the most difficult of times will eventually pass


and the sun will rise.
And a new day will commence


They will live again in freedom
They will once again be liberated


In the garden of the Lord.
In God's divine garden


We will walk behind the plowshare
We will work hard and create something new


We will put away the sword.
We will leave our violent ways behind


The chain will be broken
The shackles will be removed


And all men will have their reward.
And everyone will finally receive what they deserve


Will you join in our crusade?
Will you stand with us and fight for our cause?


Who will be strong and stand with me?
Who among you has the strength to fight alongside me?


Somewhere beyond the barricade
On the other side of the barricade


Is there a world you long to see?
Is there a better world that you dream of?


Say, do you hear the distant drums?
Can you hear the drums in the distance?


It is the future that they bring
They represent the hope of a better, brighter future


When tomorrow comes!
When the new day arrives!


Ah!
Ah!


Ah!
Ah!


Ah!
Ah!


Tomorrow comes!
The future is upon us!




Lyrics © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: ALAIN ALBERT BOUBLIL, CLAUDE MICHEL SCHONBERG, HERBERT KRETZMER, JEAN MARC NATEL

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@mrtuwnbr

@K P Yees, this song says “To love another person is to see the face of God!” And, as they are in heaven they should have loved someone, if they didn’t they wouldn’t be there. A lot of them were sinners, but it was that selfless love that made them find God and win heaven.
Javert did not love anyone and that’s why he’s not there, rejecting love was rejecting God.
The students loved freedom and people (they wanted they to had a good life and be free) and probably they loved each other (they were fiends after all and It’s not only romantic love the one that counts)
But R did not love those ideals, he loved Enjorlas. If love weren’t what he felt for him he wouldn’t be there, specially not by Enj’s side!
But, Enj should also loved someone too, if he only loved his ideals he would be just the revolutionary version of Javert: a man that only saw ideas and not people.
Yes, he lived for revolution, but that’s not enough to win heaven. Probably he loved his friends, but maybe he did love R, maybe his sacrifice made him love him.

They balanced each other, cynicism and idealism may look like oposites, but actually they completamente each other, both extreme are bad so they need to be together to come to balance.
Also, Enjorlas’s characteristic color is red while Grantaire’s color is green, two complementary colors.
Those differences kinda made them perfect for each other.

Also, Enj and the rest of revolutionaries taught people that fighting for your beliefs it was worthy, as cheesy as it sounds. And when I say people I include us, the audience, that “you” on “Do you hear the people sing” is directed to us.
It’s there to say that we should keep fighting and loving cause those are the things that will make tomorrow a better day (geez, it sound really cheesy like that but yeah)

As you say, it’s beautiful to watch them together… even in afterlife. As the song says now they are free in the garden of the Lord and… that’s just wonderful.



All comments from YouTube:

@heytheredelilah3724

The last scene is so beautiful.
You can kill people, but you can't kill ideals.
And I think Marius and Cosette can hear them sing too, not just because a part of them died with their friends and parents, but also because they represent a new generation that will keep those ideals alive.

@scottmatheson3346

Oh, you can kill ideals. Think of all the extinct pagan religions you've barely heard of, all the heresies of surviving religions gone from the world because they were crushed by force of arms. Most change of heart historically occurs through force, not rational persuasion.

@vvvvend3632

@Scott Matheson you can't kill ideals, they'll always exist regardless if anyone follows them or not genius.

@riversong4997

Love your username, and the possible V For Vendetta reference! I'm just going to pretend that it was intentional...

@scottmatheson3346

@vvv vend this is on a level with pretending russell's teapot exists, genius - acting as though some ideal no longer held in any mind or any other format still exists out there, somewhere, orbiting mars or something. you know damn well that the phrase you're defending means that ideals will live on in the minds of people, not be extinguished from the earth yet "exist" in some meaningless, abstract sense, so try being intellectually honest next time you post or just don't bother saying anything.

@vvvvend3632

@Scott Matheson the lengths you'll go to defend your faulty premise hahaha.
"Orbiting mars"
Come back when your comprehension of the abstract world is high enough to understand what concepts are

19 More Replies...

@crackerjack3762

I don’t care what you think of this movie, I don’t care if you think it’s bad, we can all collectively agree that this ending is absolutely amazing.

@davidbarker2507

Not a bad movie. Just bad singing.

@frogsandanxiety9663

@David Barker i only really believed enjolras had the best voice rbh

@dorkandproudofit

@David Barker "Bad" singing aside, I think Anne Hathaway's rendition of "I Dreamed a Dream" is by far the best version ever. The sheer power of her acting makes the "bad" notes irrelevant, because you believe every word she says/sings and feel her despair. She 100% EARNED her Oscar. I also prefer the arrangements of the movie over the music of the original, where they used a full-blown orchestra as opposed to synths, making songs like this sound a billion times bigger. And as much as I like seeing Eponine again in the moment of Valjean going to heaven, I think I prefer the version here where the bishop is the one who guides him alongside Fantine, since Valjean never really knew Eponine but the bishop is the one who changed his life to begin with.

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