Do You Hear The People Sing

Do You Hear The People Sing from Les Misérables. “Do You Hear the People Sing?” (“French: À la Volonté du Peuple”, literally The people’s will, in the original French version) is one of the principal and most recognisable songs from the 1980 musical Les Misérables. It is sung twice in the stage musical. The song, composed by Claude-Michel Schönberg (music), Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (original French lyrics), and Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics) is first sung in Act I by Enjolras and the other students at the ABC Cafe as they prepare themselves to launch a rebellion in the streets of Paris during the funeral procession of General Jean Maximilien Lamarque. The song is sung again in the finale as the final song of the musical. This second version, which immediately follows a number by Jean Valjean and others, is sung by the entire cast with revised lyrics, and becomes progressively louder with each stanza. The song is a revolutionary call for people to overcome adversity. The “barricades” referred to in the song are erected by the rebel students in the streets of Paris in the musical’s second act. They are to draw the National Guard into combat and ignite a civilian uprising to overthrow the government, but their rebellion eventually fails.