Hugh Michael Jackman (born October 12, 1968 in Sydney, New South Wales, Aus… Read Full Bio ↴Hugh Michael Jackman (born October 12, 1968 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) is an Australian film producer, film and stage actor, known for playing Wolverine in X-Men and its sequels, and his Tony Award-winning performance in The Boy from Oz. In 2005 he won an Emmy for hosting the Tony awards.

In 2004, Jackman won a Tony Award for his Broadway portrayal of Australian songwriter and performer Peter Allen in The Boy from Oz. He hosted the Tony Awards in 2004 and 2005, garnering very positive reviews. The televisation of the these awards earned him an Emmy Award win for Outstanding Individual Performer in a Variety, Musical or Comedy program in 2005.

Bring Him Home
Hugh Jackman Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there

He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest

Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.

Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy

You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die, let me die
Let him live
Bring him home

Bring him home
Bring him home.

Overall Meaning

The lyrics to Hugh Jackman's song Bring Him Home are both emotional and moving. The song is sung in the musical Les Misérables, and the lyrics are addressed to God. In the first stanza, the singer prays for God to hear his prayer, and thanks Him for always being there in his time of need. The second stanza talks about a young boy who is afraid and who the singer wants to be at peace. In the third stanza, the singer expresses a deep longing for a son, and how quickly time passes. The final stanza is a plea to God to let the young boy be safe and to let the singer die if it means the boy can live in peace.

The song has a sense of urgency, asking God to act quickly to protect the young boy. The lyrics express deep emotions of love, fear, and loss experienced by a father or a person who could have been like a father. The lyrics are poignant and moving, encouraging the listener to empathize with the feelings of the singer.

Line by Line Meaning

God on high
Oh God in heaven

Hear my prayer
Please listen to my plea

In my need
In this time of desperation

You have always been there
You've never abandoned me

He is young
This boy is still a child

He's afraid
He's scared and worried about his future

Let him rest
Allow him to find peace and comfort

Heaven blessed
May he be blessed by heaven

Bring him home
Bring him back to his family and friends

Bring him home
Keep him safe and secure

Bring him home.
Bring him back to where he belongs

He's like the son I might have known
This young man could have been my own son

If God had granted me a son.
If only God had allowed me to have a son of my own

The summers die
The years pass by quickly

One by one
Successive summers, one after the other, pass by

How soon they fly
How quickly time passes

On and on
It seems never-ending

And I am old
I am now advanced in years

And will be gone.
And soon I will pass away

Bring him peace
May he find tranquility

Bring him joy
May he find contentment and happiness

He is young
He has his whole life ahead of him

He is only a boy
He's just a child, with so much yet to experience

You can take
You have the power to take things away

You can give
You also have the power to give things

Let him be
Allow him to exist and be

Let him live
Allow him to thrive and have a life

If I die, let me die
If my time has come, let me pass

Let him live
But don't let this young man's life be taken too soon

Bring him home
Bring him back to his loved ones and community

Bring him home
Keep him safe and secure in his home

Bring him home.
Don't let him be taken away from those who love him

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

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@johngrayaglubat3589

1y↑3

God on high
Hear my prayer
In my need
You have always been there
He is young
He's afraid
Let him rest
Heaven blessed.
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.
He's like the son I might have known
If God had granted me a son.
The summers die
One by one
How soon they fly
On and on
And I am old
And will be gone.
Bring him peace
Bring him joy
He is young
He is only a boy
You can take
You can give
Let him be
Let him live
If I die
Let me die
Let him live
Bring him home
Bring him home
Bring him home.

All comments from YouTube:

@50jido

1y↑76

I didn't like this at first, but it grew on me. It became my favourite, you feel such sadness and tiredness in the way he sings, just felt natural.

@katherinepierce9933

45w↑2

Put it on 0.25 speed. Tiredness and sadness indeed.

@Seaurchin51

1y↑54

I love the vibrato in his voice when he sings "If I die"

@kevinberney6639

2y↑155

Hugh sang one of the most powerful songs in his own way. Do not compare Hugh to Colm, as they sang the same song in two different forms of Les Mis. Both made it their song.

@SquallLionhart409

2y↑28

I don't need to compare Hugh to Colm to point out the flaws with this performance. its a pity how badly this turned out with how well Hugh can sing.

@rogerradue2352

2y↑2

dont you mean alfie boe

@SquallLionhart409

2y↑11

@Roger Radue Alfie is even more unfair than Colm to compare Hugh to. Hugh's biggest weakness in this film overall is how weak his singing is (look in to the physical condition he was in for this film if you want to be horrified). Comparing him to Alfie, one of the most powerful performers for the role, is just unfair.

As a side not, just in case this is a case of you not being aware, Colm Wilkinson is the original Jean Valjean. Bring Him Home was written with him specifically in mind. He's viewed by most as the definitive Valjean. This isn't to take anything away from Alfie Boe who picked the part up some decades later and did a fantastic job, but Colm is still the definitive Valjean.

@rogerradue2352

2y↑2

@SquallLionhart409 sorry i didnt see his singing as weak......lot of his other songs he sounded more confident in singing that bring him home

@SquallLionhart409

2y↑6

@Roger Radue To try to clarify, his singing VOICE is weak. I missed a word there. Listen for how he sustains notes. Its very common for him to just not seem to have enough breath support for what he wants to do, likely stemming from essentially being on "prison rations" (quoting the director) and water restriction while trying to sing fully through these songs for long sessions on set. (Seriously, the way they handled the music in this musical movie is dreadful. There's a reason pros don't sing for 10 hour days.)

The weakness also isn't necessarily a question of volume. Gently placing each note for the last "Bring Him Home" is harder than blasting it out like Hugh does here.

10 More Replies...

@JewishKeto

30w↑5

Definitely one of my favorite songs of Les mis.

@clo5671

19w↑1

The more a singer has a sense of their own ability to both plead and demand God resuce the boy from death, based on their aged place in life the more compelling and convincing is this song. Hugh NAILS THIS

@SirAuronthehonorable

38w↑5

say this with my grandma and her friends. She cried at this movie through and through. Some years later, aftet readinf the actual novel theres only a few songs that DONT make me cry like them. This song makes me cry because i lost someone younget than me i wished i could have saved but couldnt

@danielgant2214

40w↑9

Is there any part Hugh Jackman can’t play with excellence? Everything I’ve ever seen him in he did a great job.

@psyxech3408

27w↑3

yes, there is! this one. this is awful. go watch les mis.

@therealgigglebop

18w↑1

Yes, Jean Valjean. An utter disgrace

@MrOhara77

16w↑1

Hugh Jackman always makes me cry with this song

@AMindInOverdrive

2y↑117

I like how his voice is not perfect - lends more to a believable character - tired and worn out from years of hardship....the shake in his voice that almost cuts out;
For a movie i like it - For stage, it's impossible to beat Alfie Bowe

@zivapalmer5775

Agreed!

@tanyaretour5715

2y↑7

ramin karimloo*cough*cough*

@lewisnorth1188

2y↑5

ahem colm

@LECAPITAINEJACK

Robert Marien both in French and English.

@gabrielmontero5265

@tanya retour yEs!!!

7 More Replies...

@shells500tutubo

1y↑27

This is the most realistic version of the song, what it was meant to portray. By making it just a little bit too high it brings out the strain on Jean Valjean over his lifetime, his tiredness, despondence. It is not pretty, like all the other versions sung with true high tenors.

@psyxech3408

27w↑4

he's missing he entire point of the song though. The real version is quiet, its personal, not belted out for the world to hear

@bestof1506

25w↑2

@@psyxech3408 thank you! There's no buildup in this performance, no subtlety... He starts belting and goes on belting and ends belting... Don't even get me started on that vibrato

@Sueb18631

14w

@@bestof1506 I like Jackman but I have tio agree. I blame Hooper who told him to do it this way for some reason. BHH is NOT supposed to be a loud, shouted song. It's a quiet prayer. WHY in the world Hooper did it this way I have no idea. It's completely the opposite of the way it's meant to be sung and Jackman sounds terrible doing it, like he's straining way too much trying to hit the notes.

@starlightequestrian6729

46w↑9

The first and only time I've seen my father cry was in the theater during this song. He said that as a father with a daughter (me) who will eventually be taken away by another man who will care for him, it was hard to listen to.

@jacobhumphrey3535

1y↑10

This movie makes me so sad. There are great acting performances, but a lot of the musical moments were made under such terrible circumstances that they couldn't have made filming this very conducive to singing well.

@E-eb6ic

2y↑42

Ik that some people like how he belted it, but it’s just- that contradicts the entire orchestration. It starts extremely delicate and continues with minimal instruments. It’s not until he starts with, “he’s like the son I might have known” that the orchestra begins to build. The music that is meant to lend to his vocal performance, but he’s ignoring it

@catherinepruettpianist4971

2y↑5

He is anguished, not singing an aria

@E-eb6ic

2y↑4

@Catherine Pruett, pianist well, an aria is a piece for one lead melody or voice that is contained in itself…so by those standards it is an aria (unless my definition is wrong which it might be).
BUT, I get what you’re saying about the anguish. However, the music was written with intention. It builds to a belt, so we still get that loud power, that desperate anguish. But it begins tentatively, this is his final request to god. He’s asked so much of this higher power throughout the show and now he accepts that he will soon be dead, and gently he asks to trade his life, before the emotion is too strong and he builds into “the summers die, one by one” before his voice is softened by the realization that he is now the summer, fading away as he’s seen it do so often, “and I am old, and will be gone”
The dynamics and orchestration directly correlate with the words
(Sorry, I don’t mean to word vomit at you, I just love talking about music)

@Ecksplisit

1y↑1

@Lee just like some classical musicians take some creative liberties with their interpretations of classical pieces, singers can do the same with musicals imo. There’s not really a right or wrong way to sing. Just different interpretations of the piece.

@psyxech3408

27w

exactly!!!

@user-ve9uu7yn1t

34w↑1

البؤساء فيلم في منتهى الروعه ❤

@karolbarnes3271

31w↑2

What a tune

@kiloron7294

1y↑26

tom hooper: ok hugh for this scene i want valjean to sound like a man with a deviated septum rapidly driving over speedbumps

hugh: say no more

@mspianowoman

1y↑4

“make sure you don’t drink any water for 68 hours too!!🫶”

@preheattheovento350

2y↑21

This just popped into my head randomly

@duniyambagoyi3123

1y↑22

i love hugh jackman but if you ever need a good laugh put this in 0.5 speed. it will not disappoint.

@ninjanibba4259

You're so right lol

@TheForgotten__1

52w↑1

A very emotional drunk outside the boozer after kick out time 😂

@shaunz383

34w

You sir/ma'am, are very mean! 😂😂😂😂😂

@lumibinatube

36w↑2

Hugh is not a singer, but I wish I could act as well as he can sing 😅

@GPS_DS

19w↑3

He’s actually a really great singer, when he’s in the correct vocal range. listen to Greatest Showman, he sounds incredible there.

@tanners519

1y↑26

I love to play this a .5 speed and blast it.

@levi0sahhh373

1y↑1

ME TOO

@sphendalen9432

1y↑2

Thought slowing it to .05 would make it sound cool because you said to do it.

Broke out laughing in the first 3 seconds.

@renatooliveir5701

2y↑16

God can hear any voice!

@scamwitness6594

2y↑1

He hears all with equal love x

@ClockworkCouture.

@Scam Witness doesn't mean he's always willing to actually listen. There's a difference between hearing and listening, and he never listens. Ever.

@rosieringlet1

1y↑10

First time watching Hugh sing this, bit sad, he suited The Greatest Showman much better than this. Colm and Alfie just imprint this song in the head

@clw5537

45w

You can’t compare them. They all made the song their own.

@therealbibbIe

2y↑393

put it on 0.25x speed if you want a good laugh

@SquallLionhart409

2y↑13

@Scott Miller I think he was better before even. Just listen to his performance of "Oh What a Beautiful Mornin'" from Oklahoma. There's a version that was posted to youtube back in 2011. He even won a Tony for his lead role in a The Boy from Oz in 2004. I think its a combination of Valjean being a difficult part for his range AND that he was in horrible condition for singing throughout production.

Hooper, the director, told him that he didn't want people to recognize Hugh, and if they did recognize him, he wanted them to think Hugh was sick. That lead to him being essentially "on prison rations" (direct quote from Hooper) and on "water restriction". You mentioned singing yourself, so I assume you know the importance of hydration to sing well. Add that on to doing take after take after take... of course he sounds exhausted.

@dayowl4409

2y↑8

lol😂

@theekje9133

2y↑7

Dear god x)

@themysteriouswriter5735

2y↑12

0.5 is better

@cursedkaleidoscope

2y↑15

THANK YOU FOR THIS I AM CACKLING

36 More Replies...

@hannahdoesacting5820

1y↑2

I did this at 2.0x and 0.5x and had a good laugh (not doing this to mock, I know he has a good singing voice and what they put him through I just find it funny at those speeds and acknowledge that it probably sounds like this at 0.5x speed for many performers because of the difficulty of the song)

@johngrayaglubat3589

1y↑3

@sphendalen9432

1y↑2

I guess the giant eye in the background is supposed to be God watching from above.

🤦 Shouldn't have taken me so long to notice that. It's cool.

@thisisjenny-hello

25w↑8

I'm thinking about the Israeli hostages - children, men, women, elderly. And I just want them to be brought home and to have peace and safety. This song touches me.

@roeiirani7505

22w↑1

Tomorrow some are finally returning let’s hope the baby is safe

@roeiirani7505

22w

I know a good friend that her cousin was kidnapped let’s hope she is still alive

@thisisjenny-hello

22w

Finally. Holding my breath until they're released. I will think of your friend's cousin 🙏. @@roeiirani7505

@benszekely4336

1y↑21

someone in the barecade: Shut up, we're trying to sleep

@clw5537

45w

Exactly what I thought 😂 It seemed like such a random scene. Everybody was sleeping. They weren’t even in danger at that moment and he just kept singing they shouldn’t kill him. No one tried to.

@stephenfarthing3819

31w↑1

For an actor who played Wolverine in the X Men films not too bad - passable! Alfie Boe might have have given it gravitas but otherwise.. Very tolerable!

@missybarnes7400

2y↑11

Its the funniest thing ever watching this slow 😭😭

@bubble8829

1y↑4

Exactly WHAT is that first word he sings? The first line is meant to be "God on high". But whatever Hugh Jackman is singing sounds astonishingly like a four-letter epithet that rhymes loosely with "aunt". 🤣 And I'm Australian so this is not an accent thing.

I'm not commenting on the quality or otherwise of his singing. This is one of the most difficult songs in the repertoire – it's meant for a musical theatre tenor, but Hugh Jackman is really a baritone. So it's set really high for him. Still, he didn't get the key moved down for him, and he sang it as well as I'd expect from a baritone who's not a professional singer full time.

And he acted the pants off it!

I'm also wondering if the choice not to use any falsetto was a stylistic choice by the director or musical director. Given that he doesn't use falsetto, it's good Hugh Jackman can get up there at all without belting.

@calebleach7988

ngl it sounds like it would hurt.

@julietforrest

1y↑1

.5 speed is an EXPERIENCE

@trevorsmith579

2y↑11

Only one man can sing that song c t w

@richardhaighway4816

1y↑2

Alfie is pretty surreal

@visualizeprog2874

51w↑3

"he is only a boy" is not even sung, but spoken in a very rushed way, like it's a toss-away line. ValJean's crimes were stealing a loaf of bread & breaking parole. Jackman's crime was murdering the melodies of some of the best musical theater songs ever written.

@susannegardner3148

1y↑4

Excruciating

@WHALEx3

2y↑15

You theatre nerds have been indroctinated in a sad way. This bops.

@ashisalivent

Real

@calebleach7988

1y↑6

No. This version is way to loud. The song is meant to start out soft. It only grows at the "he's like the son I might have known." It takes all the interest and beauty out of the song when theres no dynamics. That is the case with pretty much all music. His performance is good, but this song sucks.

@WHALEx3

@Caleb leach and? it sounds good to millions of people. You can't invalidate their subjective tastes in music

@calebleach7988

1y↑5

@🐋🐋🐋 true. But I can say that, objectively, this song is not sung the way it is supposed to be sung. Especially when the music underneath this version still builds the way it does in every other version.

@WHALEx3

@Caleb leach ok, happy new year

2 More Replies...

@rosaleekarisma7039

1y↑6

I have a different tab open with Alfie Boe so I can cleanse my ears after listening to this

@zkiman

1y↑1

Why am I waiting for his adamantium claws to come out? 🤔 hmmmm....

@themysteriouswriter5735

2y↑10

Put this song on half speed (0.5)
Thank me later...

@minaiminai3710

2y↑2

it's a good act very painful

@timtamothy

2y↑5

Okay but also play it at 1.5x

@ryon1987

😭😭😭😭😭

@klegrice1412

23w

Great commercial

@brxzbze

2y↑28

what is UP with this direction? Did they just tell him to wander around and periodically look confused?

@Adrianics4k

2y↑15

Burst out laughing when I watched this in the cinema. Jackman wandering aimlessly around the barricade in the middle of the night, surrounded by sleeping people, belting at the top of his lungs without waking a single one of them up

@davej9

2y↑6

Someone's over thinking this...🙄

@jedw8753

2y↑5

@Adrianics4k I know it's silly right? At some points in this movie characters actually break out in song unanimously as if they all rehearsed and know the same lines.
Very unrealistic, something like this would never happen in real life.
0/10 MOVIE

@janicesmith2968

@Jed W that's why I don't like musicals, it's fake, and I didn't watch the movie. In real life we don't break out into song on the highs and lows of life. Recently heard some other guy sing this and looked it up. It is beautiful. But I'd prefer hearing it sung by someone else.

@clw5537

45w

Serious! Was thinking the same thing. It doesn’t make any sense to me. They weren’t even in danger at the moment.

@alistairmills7608

🤍

@karenhill4625

I’m the best there is at what I do, but what I do is not very nice.

@williemcd

2y↑14

Over reliance on vibrato....It comes off as gimicky.

@tanyaretour5715

2y↑1

fully agree

@WHALEx3

I like it because I haven’t been ruined by musical theatre :)

@catherinepruettpianist4971

He is not an opera singer and you should not expect such in musical theater

@goodyougetastar

You guys are talking about his volume like it's the issue with this performance lmao. It's the placement in his voice. Horrendous.

@psyxech3408

27w

I agree with your comment on the placement, but volume is a big issue. he's missing he entire point of the song. The real version is quiet, its personal, not belted out for the world to hear

@goodyougetastar

27w↑1

@@psyxech3408 Well, fair. But I feel like because he forces the mixed placement, he can't actually hit the notes unless it's as loud as it is. I can feel him desperately trying to be more delicate but it's just so grating.

@adriang6259

48w

100% Ripped off at the Oscars.

@psyxech3408

27w

you're mad

@lauriemadden4547

2y↑47

jesus this is painful to listen to

@itswilson7693

2y↑2

Is it really?

@davej9

2y↑12

In the context of the film Hugh gives a great performance- he's an actor and comparing him to a professional singer is silly- still a moving moment in the film-

@SensesPhil87

2y↑5

Couldn't agree more. I mean, don't get me wrong it's not terrible, but it ain't good.

@preheattheovento350

2y↑1

I disagree

@Bruchaa

2y↑1

@Dave J u must forget Hugh is a theatre guy first and foremost

2 More Replies...

@speeddemon9555

2y↑3

i've been binge watching this song by all and sundry, sad to say Hugh should stick to acting, he sounds very amateurish. the worst yet.

@catherinepruettpianist4971

hs is an amateur singer, geesh

@speeddemon9555

2y↑3

@Catherine Pruett, pianist he's paid for this part, therefore a professional singer, as i said, he should stick to acting.

@idontcareaboutyouropinion8999

Hugh Jackman is has a Tony award for best actor in a musical and an Olivier nomination for the same category but sure you’re the expert

@speeddemon9555

1y↑2

@idontcareaboutyouropinion i couldn't give a stuff if he's got an oscar for singing, he still should stick to acting, and yes, i'm an expert on what i enjoy, it isn't Jackmans singing !!

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