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


Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴  Line by Line Meaning ↴

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

Epilogue is the culminating song in Les Misérables - a musical which tells story of the struggles and resilience of individuals facing the French revolutions of 1830s. It follows the character of Fantine, a single mother, who dies tragically in the early part of the musical, leaving behind her daughter, Cosette, who is then taken under the care of the singer, Jean Valjean. The song is an emotional farewell from Valjean to Cosette as he is on his deathbed. He beseeches God to forgive him for his mistakes and begs Cosette to forgive him too. Through this, Valjean establishes his final selflessness as he departs from the world, leaving Cosette behind with the hope of living a happy and peaceful life.


The song is primarily driven by Jean Valjean reflecting on his life as he faces death, and he finds redemption in the hope of a better tomorrow. The song ends with the hopeful note of the future where the oppressed will rise to live free, joining the crusade that defeats tyranny. Through the lyrics, the audience is brought into the struggles and sacrifices of the characters with the reminder that love for one another can bring salvation.


Line by Line Meaning

Monsieur, I bless your name
I thank you deeply for all you have done for me and my daughter


I am ready Fantine!
I am ready to die now that my daughter will be taken care of


Monsieur, lay down your burden
Please rest now, you have done all you can for us


At the end of my days
I am nearing the end of my life


You’ve raised my child with love
You have given my daughter a life full of love and care


She’s the best of my life
My daughter is the greatest thing that ever happened to me


And you will be with God
You will be rewarded by God for your kindness and generosity


Papa, papa, I do not understand
Father, I am confused and scared, please explain


Are you all right?
Are you feeling okay?


Why did you go away
Why did you leave us?


Cosette, my child
My beloved daughter


Am I forgiven now?
Can you forgive me for the mistakes I have made?


Thank god, thank god
I am grateful to God for this moment


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


It’s you who must forgive a thoughtless fool
I was foolish to not recognize your love and care for us


It’s you who must forgive a thankless man
I failed to show enough gratitude for your help and sacrifice


It’s thanks to you that I am living
I owe my life to your kindness and generosity


And again I lay down my life at your feet
I offer my life and thanks to you for all you have done


Cosette, your father is a saint
Your father is an honorable and noble man


When they wounded me
When I was injured


He took me from the barricade
He saved me from danger


Carried like a babe
He carried me gently and lovingly


And brought me home
And brought me to safety


To you
To your loving care


Now you are here
Now that you are with me again


Again beside me
Close to me once more


Now I can die in peace
I can now face death without regret


For now my life is blessed
My life has been filled with blessings and happiness


You will live, Papa, you're going to live
You will recover, father, you will survive this


It's too soon, too soon to say goodbye!
It's too early to part ways


Yes, Cosette, forbid me now to die
Yes, Cosette, urge me to keep living


I'll obey
I will listen to you, my daughter


I will try.
I will make an effort


On this page
In this letter


I write my last confession
I am confessing my last thoughts


Read it well when I, at last, am sleeping
Read it carefully after I have passed away


It's the story
It's the tale


Of one who turned from hating
Of one who went from hostility to love


The man who only learned to love
The man who only discovered love after a long struggle


When you were in his keeping
When you were under his protection


Come with me
Follow me


Where chains will never bind you
To a place where you will be free


All your grief
All your pain and sadness


At last, at last behind you
Will finally be over and behind you


Lord in Heaven
God above


Look down on him in mercy.
Have mercy on him


Forgive me all my trespasses
Forgive me for all my mistakes and sins


And take me to your glory.
Bring me to your heavenly realm


Take my hand
Join me, follow me


I'll lead you to salvation
I will guide you to eternal life


Take my love
Accept my love


For love is everlasting
Love lasts forever


And remember
And keep in mind


The truth that once was spoken
The truth that was revealed


To love another person
To truly care for someone else


Is to see the face of God.
Is to see the divinity in others and in oneself


Do you hear the people sing
Do you hear the songs of the people


Lost in the valley of the night?
In the midst of darkness and despair?


It is the music of the people
It is the sound of their hopes and dreams


Who are climbing to the light.
Who are striving for a better future


For the wretched of the earth
For the most unfortunate and oppressed people


There is a flame that never dies.
There is a hope that never fades


Even the darkest night will end
Even in the bleakest of moments


and the sun will rise.
There is still hope for a better tomorrow


They will live again in freedom
They will be free and alive again


In the garden of the Lord.
In heaven's paradise


We will walk behind the plowshare
We will work hard and rebuild


We will put away the sword.
We will abandon violence and conflict


The chain will be broken
The barriers and injustices will be removed


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


Will you join in our crusade?
Will you fight alongside us?


Who will be strong and stand with me?
Who will have the courage to fight with me?


Somewhere beyond the barricade
On the other side of the obstacles


Is there a world you long to see?
Is there a place you dream of?


Do you hear the people sing?
Do you hear the joyful noise of humanity?


Say, do you hear the distant drums?
Can you hear the sound of change coming?


It is the future that they bring
It is the prospect of a better future for us all


When tomorrow comes!
When the new day arrives!


Ah!
Ah!


Tomorrow comes!
The future is coming!




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

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it

Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Song not found
Most interesting comment from YouTube:

@mrtuwnbr

@@kp4692 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:

@sloppyjoes7

The Bishop is the real hero of the story. It's so appropriate to see him here.

@billfisher9238

more fitting than having Eponine welcome him after death--as in the play. she barely knew him. but the Bishop changed his life.

@UnfixedPython

@Jonathan Loh the original Valjean meets Wolverine Valjean 😂

@beccadarin758

@@billfisher9238 it was fantine.
I think it's fitting she was there. She left the world knowing her daughter would be ok, then he became a new man. Fantine gave him a new purpose.

@BrassMaster84

@@billfisher9238 The Bishop put the whole story in motion. If he hadn't "straightened out" Valjean, then Fantine, Cosette, Marius, and others would have had a much worse fate.

@erinloker4861

@@billfisher9238 I think Eponine was there in the musical because Jean Valjean saved Marius at the barricade

46 More Replies...

@alejandragutierrez7843

I heard once that Marius can hear the song of the revolution because a part of him died with his friends.

@kristenrichardson439

Oh, my gosh! That is beautiful

@sofiamuller5579

damn

@kenrize1400

Both Cosette and Marius can hear it

More Comments

More Versions