"La nuit": The Song that Became "Lovely Ladies" *Added song*

"Nightime, nightime, we're masters in command! Master of the town while the bourgeois sleep!" Can you imagine if "Lovely Ladies", Les Mis' jaunty ode to women of the evening, began with those words? Well, for those watching the original 1980 version of the show at the Palais des Sports in Paris, it did.

I have always liked this song; it's just so fun and dirty. It was always my sister's favorite song, too. When we were little and my mom first discovered Les Mis by way of PBS telethons, she had taped the 10th Anniversary Concert of the show. According to mom, my sister use to go upstairs, still Mom's slips and lingerie, put them on, and then sit and watch the song over and over. That was, what, 1996? Not much has changed, honestly...

"Lovely ladies!"
Recent London Cast

But that's enough about my family life. What's important here is the song, and where it came from. The current French versions of the show include "Tu viens, chéri ?" (translated to "You comin', dearie?") However, the 1980 version of the show included in its place "La nuit," which translates to "Nightime."

The writers of the show, the great Boublil, Schonberg, and Jean-Marc Natel wrote this song so that they could have a lighter number after the big heaping pile of depression that was "L'air de la misère" (see Intro to "J'avais rêvé" vs "I Dreamed a Dream" for more info on that). They didn't want a comic song, persay, but they did want something a little more bouncy to lift the audience's spirits. So they composed "La nuit" and placed it right after "L'air de la misère" and right before "J'avais rêvé." (For those keeping track, the 1980s version would have run "La journée est finie"-->"L'air de la misère"-->"La nuit"-->"J'avais rêvé.")

As far as I know, this song has not been translated anywhere else on the internet. I am working off a very rare audio of the original 1980 cast. I cannot share the entire thing with you all (as much as I'd like to), but I will soon uploadfor you the audio track of "La nuit," so you can follow along and hear how similar yet different the song was in its first incarnation.

Link to song: http://youtu.be/01ui7Cmb-dI

"La nuit": 

LES CLIENTS:
La nuit, la nuit on est maitres à bord Nighttime, nightime, we're masters in command
Maitres de la ville pendant que le bourgeois s'endors Master of the town while the bourgeois sleep
La nuit, la nuit, on navigue encore Nighttime, nighttime, we're still sailing
Porté par la houle d'une boussole qui perd le nord Carried by the swell of a compass that's going crazy [lit. "lost the north"]
Où nous déferlons jusqu'à l'aurore Where we unfurl our sails until dawn

 *They're labeled "The Clients," but I've 100% convinced these people were meant to be seamen and sailors. I mean, just look at all the nautical references and wordplay.*

LES PUTAINS (The Whores):
La nuit, la nuit, on dérive au port Nighttime, nighttime, we drift to the port
Prêtes à jeter l'ancre pour qulques rares pièces d'or Ready to throw down our anchors for a few rare pieces of gold
La nuit, la nuit, on vend nos trésors Nighttime, nighttime, we sell our treasures
Quelquefois pour rien pour voir si l'coeur bat encore Sometimes for nothing just to see if our hearts still beat
Pour adoucir un peu notre sort ! To soften a bit our lot in life!

L’ACHETEUSE DE CHEVEUX (The Hair-Buying Woman):

Les beaux cheveux, les longs cheveux que voilà Your lovely hair, your lovely hair right there
Les beaux cheveux, les beaux cheveux que tu as Your lovely hair, your lovely hair that you've got
Tu me les vends ? Sell it to me?

FANTINE:
Laissez-moi, allez-vous en Leave me alone, go away!

L’ACHETEUSE DE CHEVEUX:
Réfléchis bien Think about it
Je peux t’en donner dix francs I can give you 10 Francs for it
Réfléchis bien ! Think about it!

FANTINE:
Ma pauvre tête ! My poor head!

L’ACHETEUSE DE CHEVEUX:
Réfléchis bien ! Think about it!

FANTINE:
C’est pour Cosette It's for Cosette
dix francs déjà que j’enverrai pour la soigner Ten francs is what I'll send to take care of her!


*Listening to that section, you can hear how some things hardly change at all. Now, over 30 years after the show hit the stage at the Palais des Sports in Paris, the modern "Les Mis" contains this exact same section, with almost no changes (she sells her necklace, too, in the modern version, but not here).*

LES CLIENTS:

La nuit, la nuit on est maitres à bord Nighttime, nighttime, we're masters in command

LES PUTAINS:

La nuit, la nuit, on dérive au port Nighttime, nighttime, we drift to the port

LES CLIENTS:
Maitres de la ville pendant que le bourgeois s'endors Masters of the town while the bourgeois sleep

La nuit, la nuit, on navigue encore Nighttime, nighttie, we're still sailing

LES PUTAINS:
La nuit, la nuit, on vend nos trésors Nighttime, nighttime, we sell our treasure

LES CLIENTS:

Porté par la houle d'une boussole qui perd le nord Carried by the swell of a compass that's going crazy

TOUS:
Pour adoucir un peu notre sort ! To soften a bit our lot in life!


LES PUTAINS:
Ah ça mon Dieu, si c'est pas malhereux Oh, there, my God, if that isn't so unfortunate
D'avoir gâché d'aussi jolis cheveux Having runied such pretty hair
Qui garniront l'crâne d'une noble rombiere Which will decorate the head of some crazy old noblewoman
Avide encore de plaire avant l'cimetiere Who really wants to please before heading to the cemetery
10 franc, 10 franc, c'est bien moins qu'un client Ten francs, ten francs, that's much less than a client
Viens avec nous Come with us!

*I have to interrupt here and explain. This bit was weird to translate, but I am pretty sure she's talking about the fact that the Hair Buying Woman was gonna make Fantine's hair into a wig and sell it to old middle-class ladies who wanted to look fancy before they die. If anyone else reads something different, please let me know!*

LES PUTAINS:
La vie t'as laisée en rade Life left you out in the cold
T'es pas née du bon coté d'la barricade You weren't born on the right side of the barricade
Viens avec nous, joue ta mauvais chance Come with us, try your bad luck
La vie n'est pas un gala de bienfaisance Life isn't a gala of good-doing
Et si l'homme est parfois trop laid entre tes cuisses Et if the man is sometimes too ugly between your thighs
Ferme les yeux, pense à ton amoureux... Close your eyes, think about your true love...

______

I can't wait to post the audio for you guys so you can hear this intriguing early version of "Lovely Ladies." Next, I'll return to the current version of the show and we'll talk about "Bamatabois/Fantine's Arrest," which has been slightly different in every French incarnation of the show I've heard. I'll compare the English version to three different French versions--the 1991 Paris cast, the 1999 Antwerp cast, and the most recent French version, the 2008 Quebec cast. I might throw in the 1980 version for good measure. Let me know what you want to read!

Please leave any comments or thoughts you have about my translations, or if you have requests, please let me know! Thanks for reading.

"J'avais rêvé" vs "I Dreamed a Dream"

"I Dreamed a Dream" has taken on a remarkable life outside of the world of the show. It is a beautiful piece of music that encompasses the melancholy of a tragic youth, of regret, and of regrettable choice which one must now live with. It has come to symbolize sadness and, every once and a while, hope. Hope of a forthcoming change, that the dream may not be dead after all.


Yeah but actually the dream is super dead. In Les Mis, Fantine sings the song after losing her job, her only means of support for her daughter, Cosette. This song is a lament for a time gone. There is zero hope in the English version of the song, and even less hope in the French version. Additionally, the French version of the song is simply beautiful, and much more graceful--it also removes the slight redudnacny of "I dreamed a dream..." What, did you dream a movie? Or a hot dog? Or a car? Of course you dreamed a dream. The French version has her dreaming of "another life"...

I'll try not to offer too much sermon-ing in the middle of the song, as I feel the words speak for themselves.


Link to song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlhq5Uana60

Louise Pitre as Fantine

FANTINE:
Doux Seigneur, Dear Lord,
Que vous ai-je fait, What have I done to you
Pour que plus je tombe, So that the more I fall
Et plus vous me The more you let
laissiez tomber? Me fall?
J'avais rêvé d'un coeur si grand, I had dreamed of a heart so large
Que le mien y trouve place That mine finds its place there
Pour un bonheur à partager. In order to have a happiness to share
Doux Seigneur, Dear Lord
Que vous ai-je fait? What have I done?


*The famous English version begins with Fantine simply setting up her story. "There was a time, when love was blind..." This version actually has her, in her sadness, asking God why he has abandoned her. The first five lines are an exact transplant of the 1980 French Cast lyrics. The last bit had to be changed, as the 1980 version had this song after "La nuit" ("Lovely Ladies"), and thus included the lyrics: "Dear Jesus, what have you done to me? I've lost everything that I had, I have only myself to share now."*


J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie I had dreamed of another life
Quand ma vie passait When my life used to pass
Comme un rêve. Like a dream
J'étais prête I was ready
À toutes les folies, For all the madness
À toutes les passions For every passion
Qui se lèvent. That arose.

J'étais si jeune, où est le mal ? I was so young, what's wrong with that?
Je voulais rire, I wanted to laugh
Aimer et vivre, To love and to live
Danser jusqu'à la fin du bal, To dance till the end of the ball
Ivre du bonheur d'être libre. Drunk from the happiness of being free

Mais les loups rôdent dans la nuit; But the wolves roam in the night;
Et l'un d'eux flairait ma trace. And one of them caught my trace
Moi, j'ai comblé l'appétit I fulfilled the appetite
Du premier voleur qui passe. Of the first thief who came by.

Il a accoutumé ma vie He got my life accustomed
À la chaleur de sa présence. To the heat of his presence
Et puis un jour il est parti And then one day, he left
En m'ayant volé mon enfance. Having stolen from me my childhood.

Parfois je rêve de lui encore: Sometimes I still dream of him:
Il me supplie et il regrette. He begs me and he is sorry
Mais le rêve s'éteint à l'aurore, But the dream passes away at dawn,
Comme les lampions d'un soir de fête. Like the light of a night's party.


*Sorry to interrupt, but, on the opening night of the show in Paris in 1991, the line was sung, "Mais le rêve s'éteint au matin" ("But the dream fades away at morning").*

J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie. I had dreamed of another life
À peine commencée elle s'achève. Hardly begun, it concludes.
J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie, I had dreamed of another life,
Mais la vie a tué Bit life has killed
Mes rêves. My dreams.

I hardly have any words to say about this. The song speaks for itself. Just try listening to the English version after knowing this.


Next post: a surprise translation from the original 1980 version of the show.

*Louise Pitre photo from: http://musicals.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=50&t=65863&start=60

The Case of Fantine's Vanishing Song

Any fan of Les Mis knows that Fantine has one main song--"I Dreamed a Dream," her haunting aria to a life gone by. But did you know that Fantine originally had two songs, both expressing similar yet different ideas?

Rose Laurens as Fantine
1980 Paris Production

The original 1980 version of the show, which ran at Paris' Palais des Sports for an extended 16-week run, was ordered thus:


1) "La journee est finie" ("The Day is Over", the first version of "At the End of the Day")
2) "L'air de la misere" ("The Poverty Song", which is actually a lot prettier than you think it may be)
3) "La nuit" ("Nighttime", which has the same tune and idea of "Lovely Ladies")
4) "J'avais rêvé d'une autre vie" ("I Had Dreamed of Another Life" which is...well, you know)


Fantine originally sang songs 2 and 4. Number 4 is easily recgonizable. How Number 2...what is that? Where did it go? 

The song (available here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FVNsAw-45k) had Fantine singing about the plight of the impoverished--not nesceraily how it related to her in particular, but all poor people. It was an accusatory song, it was a chilling song, and it was a the perfect companion song to her second piece (which, you may notice, originally came after she had begun her job as a lady of the night).

So why didn't it make it into the English show? Well, when it came time to bring the show to English audiences, there arose some problems. "L'air de la misere" is gorgeous, there's no doubt...but the lyrics were kind of a bitch to translate. The chorus ran:


FANTINE:
La misère n'est mère de personne Poverty is no one's mother
La misère est pourtant sœur des hommes Yet, poverty is often the sister of men
Mais personne sur terre n'en veut pour fille But no one on earth wants it as a child
Comme bâtarde née dans un cachot de la Bastille Like a bastard born in a cell in the Bastille

Think of the trouble of singing anything that gets the point across...in English. The original song was a giantly depressing and hauntingly gripping ode to poverty, and while French audiences dig that kinda thing, the English team weren't so sure that Britain was ready for "Ode to Poverty". So they moved "J'avais rêvé" to the place of "L'air de la misere" and recycled the tune of "L'air," giving it to another poor young woman in the show. Go back and listen one more time.

Hear it?

Yup. It became "On My Own."

Coming soon, a translation of "J'avais rêvé."

*Photo of Rose Laurens found here: http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v235/fallenfromgracexx/Les%20Miserables/

Je suis pas mort !

Hey guys. I'm not dead. Neither is this blog. I'm working on a new post right now. Fret not.

I'd also like to mention that I've decided to add a new focus to the blog: translating bits of the show not widely available. Bits like the Bamatabois confrontation, or Eponine's errand, or the friggin' runaway cart. I will still offer my insight on the big songs every once and a while. I will also be trying to show more how the show as we know it differs from the original 1980 version. I will supplement these thoughts with lyrics and translations and, when available, pictures from the original production.

Amusez-vous bien ici. Je le fais tout pour vous.

"Quand un jour est passé" vs "At the End of the Day"

We begin with the start of the story...well, the start as originally imagined by Boublil and Schonberg. In the 1980 version, the show has no prologue or chain-gang scenes; it opens on "La journée est finie", which became "At the End of the Day," then, later "Quand un jour est passé" in 1991.

The 1991 version contains the prologue, etc., as we know it, but it's largely the same (except Valjean's prison number is pronounced "twenty-four six hundred one" and not two-four-six-oh-one, as in English).

"Quand un jour est passé"
Link to Song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T3AXcI08vjc

LES PAUVRES:

Quand un jour est passé, il est passé pour rien. When a day is over, it's over for nothing.

L'homme est aveugle et sourd aux peines de son prochain. Man is blind and deaf to the pains of his neighbor.

Nous les pauvres, on sait d'avance We poor folks know ahead of time

Que demain et les jours qui vont suivre, That tomorrow and the days that follows

Il n'y aura jamais pour nous There won't ever be any differences for us

Qu'une différence: Except this one:

Un jour de moins à vivre! One day less to live!

*Wow. Very similar to our English version, but somehow even more tragic. The final line packs more of a punch when the lines before it talk about how man "is blind and deaf to the pains of his neighbor" rather than "That's all you can say for the life of the poor." Cuz it obviously isn't. Moving on...*

LES PAUVRES:
Quand un jour est passé, il est passé sans joie. When a day is over, it's over without joy
Il faut s'en retourner sous la pluie, dans le froid, You've got to go back out in the rain and the cold
Implorer le bourgeois qui t'ignore, Begging the bourgeois, who ignore you,
Bien calfeutré dans son opulence, Well sealed-up in their opulence
Et qui te jette une pièce And who throw you a simple coin
Et qui s'endort, Then go to bed
En ayant bonne conscience! With a clear conscience.

*Whoaaa!!! That's a lot of awesome stuff in one verse. The English version plays on the pity the audience should feel for the poor, while the French version directly calls out the upper-middle-class for ignoring them. In a sense, the chorus is actually calling out the audience. Anyone who could afford to spend three hours in a well-climated theatre could certainly afford to help the poor. The English version has none of this.*


LES PAUVRES:
Quand un jour est passé, un autre jour se lève. When a day is over, another one's rising
Il faudra bien qu'un jour, le malheur s'mette en grève; One day unhappiness wil have to go on strike
Et qu'un ouragan éclate; And a storm will break out
Et qu'il vienne enfin secouer le monde And will at last shake up the world
Pour nourrir de sa colère To feed its anger
Ceux qui ont tant d'arriérés de misère, Those who have so many debts of poverty
Ceux qui n'ont jamais eu leur part Those who have never had their share
De bonheur en retard. Of overdue happiness.


*The line about "unhappiness going on strike" is awesome. So French.*

CONTREMAÎTRE
Quand un jour est passé, on a qu'ce qu'on mérite; When a day is over, we have what we deserve
Les feignants auront rien à mettre dans la marmite. The lazy ones won't have anything to put in their savings

*I like how the Contremaitre (Foreman) has this line. As he is the boss, he assumes that only those who work should have money.*

OUVRIER 1:
Il faut nourrir les marmots You've got to feed your kids

OUVRIERS 1 & 2:
Qu'on a faits sans toujours les vouloir. That you had without always wanting them

OUVRIER 2:
Mais ça va tant qu'on a un boulot, But that's fine, as long as you have a job--

OUVRIÈRE :
Un coup à boire! --Or something to drink!

OUVRIERS:
Nous on a cette chance! We have this luck!

FILLE 1:
As-tu vu la sale gueule que tire le contremaître? Have you seen the look on the Foreman's face?

FILLE 2:
Et ses mains baladeuses qui vous collent comme la poisse? And his wandering hands that stick like a curse?

FILLE 3:
C'est la faute à Fantine qui veut rien lui permettre. It's Fantine's fault; she won't budge an inch.

FILLE 4:
Ben, qu'ça lui plaise ou pas, va falloir qu'elle y passe! Well, whether she likes it or not, it's gonna have to happne!

FILLE 5:
Le patron, lui, ne sait pas And the boss, he doesn't know
Que sa chiourme est toujours en chaleur. That his galley slaves are always in heat!

FILLE 3:
Si Fantine ne fait pas gaffe, If Fantine doesn't watch out
Y aura pas long It won't be long
Qu'il lui arrive un malheur. Before something terrible happens to her.

OUVRIÈRES:
Quand un jour est passé, on est plus vieux d'un jour. When a day is over, you're a day older.
Et on gagne juste assez pour pas crier au s'cours. And you've earned just enough to not cry out, "Help!"
Avant la soupe et le vin, Before the soup and wine,
Il faut payer le propriétaire You have to pay the landlord
Et gratter jusqu'à la fin And scrape until the end
Chaque miette de chaqu'sou d'un salaire, Every crumb from every penny of your salary
Dont il ne va rien rester Of which nothing will be left
Quand un jour est passé. When a day is over!

CONTREMAÎTRESSE:
Qu'est-ce que tu caches, ma jolie, de la sorte? What are you hiding like that, my dear?
Alors, Fantine, quelles sont les nouvelles? So, Fantine, what's the news?

«Oh, chère Fantine, Cosette est très malade; envoyez quarante francs ou la petite est morte!»
"Oh, dear Fantine, Cosette est very sick, send 40 francs or she's dead!"

*Of note here: the woman who grabs the letter from Fantine, is, in the English version, simply another worker. She is here called the "Contremaitresse", a Female Supervisor. This may actually be a reference to the original novel, where a female supervisor discovers Fantine's child and fires her.

Also, the 2008 Quebec version renders the first line "Qu'est-ce que tu caches, ma jolie, de la lettre?"--which is a better translation, IMHO.*
FANTINE:
Rends-moi ma lettre, mêle-toi de tes affaires. Give me my letter, mind your own business
Toi qui as un mari qui ne te suffit plus. When you've got a husband who's not enough for you
Occupe-toi de ta vie et laisse-moi la mienne. Take care of your life, leave me mine
Qui êtes-vous pour me faire des leçons de vertu? Who are all of you to give me lessons in virtue?

*Note there how she switches from "tu" to "vous"...she begins by adressing her attacker, then turns to the group as a whole. This nuance is lost in English, which does not employ a singualr/plural "you" distinction. Anyway, then a fight breaks out! I think someone gets slammed against a chain link fence in this version?*

VALJEAN:
Séparez-les, je vous l'ordonne, Seperate them, I command it
Je ne conduis pas un troupeau, I do not head a circus
C'est une usine que je mène. I run a factory!
Allons, mesdames, reprenez-vous; Now, ladies, control yourselves.
Je suis le maire de cette ville, I am the mayor of this town
Je ne tolère pas ces querelles; I do not tolerate fights like this
Je vous charge de ramener l'ordre; I'll leave you to bring back order;
Et que chacun fasse son travail! Now everyone do your work!

*The first four lines above are directly lifted from the original 1980 version.*

CONTREMAÎTRE:
Qui a déclenché cette pagaille? Who started this brawl?

CONTREMAÎTRESSE:
Moi je n'y suis pour rien, tout ça c'est bien sa faute. I've got nothing to do with this, it's all her fault
Elle a une gosse qu'elle cache, on imagine pourquoi. She's got a kid that she's hiding, I wonder why?
Y a un homme qu'elle doit payer. There's a man she has to pay
Et on devine comment elle s'y prend, And you can guess how she goes about it
Pour se faire, n'est-ce pas ma poule! Des suppléments. To get herself some extra money--ain't it so, dearie?
Monsieur le maire appréciera! The Mayor would love that!


FANTINE:
Oui c'est vrai, j'ai une fille qui n'a que moi sur terre; Yes, it's true, I've a daughter who's got naught but me on Earth
Je l'ai donnée en garde pour pouvoir me placer. I gave her up, she's cared for, so I could get situated.
J'envoie tout ce que je gagne pour élever ma Cosette. I send everything I earn to raise Cosette
Je suis une femme honnête, monsieur, vous comprenez! I'm an honest woman, sir, you understand!

OUVRIÈRES:
Quand un jour est passé, on n'a que ce qu'on sème; When a day is over, you reap what you sew
Et la brebis galeuse contamine le troupeau. And the black sheep gets the whole herd sick
Pendant qu'on trime pour gagner notre pain, While we're slaving away to earn our bread
Elle se roule dans les lits des palaces; She's rolling around in the beds of palaces!
Il faut chasser cette catin We have to get read of this slut
Ou c'est nous qui perdrons notre place. Or we'll lose our place
C'est nous qu'on fera payer It's us who'll have to pay
À la fin de la journée At the end of the day

CONTREMAÎTRE:

J'aurais dû voir ta vraie nature, I shiould have seen your true nature

La chienne derrière la jeune fille pure, The bitch behind the pure young lady

Bien trop sérieuse pour être honnête. Way too serious to be honest.

Voila la vertueuse Fantine, Here we have the virtuous Fantine!

La sainte nitouche de cette usine; The untouched saint of this factory

Pendant que tu bradais tes charmes, While you were selling off your charms at a discount,

Tu m'achetais avec tes larmes. You were paying me off with your tears.

Tu joues les pucelles en plein jour You play the virgin in the day

Et la nuit tu vends de l'amour But, come night, you sell love.

*Despite this section being very similar in tone to the English version, the French version adds in the fact that not only is Fantine "sleeping around" to earn her keep, but that she is doing so with rich men--basically, they're accusing her of being a tramp AND a gold-digger!*

CONTREMAÎTRESSE:

Si t'y es pas passé, If you haven't been with her,

T'es bien le seul en ville! You're the only one in town!

OUVRIÈRES:

Fais-les lui ravaler, ses larmes de crocodile ! Make her swallow her crocodile tears!

CONTREMAÎTRESSE:

Débarrasse-nous d'elle Get rid of her!

OUVRIERS & OUVRIÈRES:

Débarrasse-nous d'elle! Get rid of her!

CONTREMAÎTRE:

Non, ma belle, No, my lovely,

C'est fini! It's over!

...wow. That's just one song. Can you see how the French version gives the English version an extra layer of nuance? Also, French can get away with singing a lot of things English can't. Can you imagine an English song that included the line "Make her swallow her crocodile tears!" ?

 This series will continue soon where I talk about the French version of "I Dreamed a Dream." If anyone has a request for a song to talk about, I'll take them into consideration!

Overture

We all know that "Les Mis" is the greatest musical of all time, based on one of the greatest books of all time. Agreed? Of course. BUT, if you've only ever heard an English version of the show, you must know that there is an even better version of it that you haven't heard.

Cover of the 1980
Concept Album

The English version is amazing...but the French version is perfect.

The French translation of the musical is the masterwork of Alain Boublil and Claude-Michel Schönberg, who wrote the original version of the show in 1980; it opened at the Palais des Sports and ran for 16 weeks, nearly double it's originally advertised run. This version of the show was similar to the version we know now, but had its difference. First, it was in French. Second, it began not with "Look Down" but with "La journee est finie", which eventually became "At the End of the Day." Thirdly, as it was assumed the French audience knew the story inside and out (which, of course, they did), there was not much character background. Audience were expected to know everything leading up to the story, and all the information that the story left out of the book often was included in the show, but not expounded upon. You just had to know it. (I could write a whole other blog on the differences between the 1980 version and this current version, but I won't...for now.)

When Cameron Mackintosh brought the show to England in 1985, the show was re-worked from top to bottom; as English audiences were not as familiar with the story, there would be more explaining to do. Herbert Kretzmer was brought in to write English lyrics. Boublil and Schonberg worked on new songs. Many of the melodies and lyrics from the original French version were left behind in the process.

Now, English is a great language; it gave us Shakespeare and Harry Potter and the Hunger Games. Which is great. But there's nothing like hearing a work in the language it was meant to be heard in. In this case, it's French.

Cover of
1991 Paris Cast Album

When "Les Mis" was brought to Paris in 1991, Monsieur Boublil got the chance to adapt the English show back into French. In doing so, he brought back a great many of the lyrics from his original 1980 version, and mixed them in with a translation of the beautiful new Kretzmer English lyrics. Thus, the 1991 version of the show is truly "Les Mis" as it was meant to be.

Over the next few weeks, I am going to be selecting sections of this version of the show and translating them back into English, to give you an idea of what the French 1991 version sounds like to a French-speaking ear. I will also provide YouTube links so you can listen along.

Expect the first post soon!

As a side note, I have access to the lyrics from the complete stage version, as well as the recorded version. Lyrics not on the recording but in the stage version will be written [in brackets]. [Like this.] [Get it?]