Bring Him Home

“Bring Him Home” is a song from the popular Broadway musical a Les Misérables, which is performed by the main character, Jean Valjean. In the musical, Valjean pleads to God to preserve the life of another man. Bring Him Home is Alfie’s most famous song and also the most famous song to come out of the show for which it was written, Les Miserables.  Unsurprisingly, it was voted as Alfie Boe’s Best Ever Song by fans in 2014 and is the one song which is always heard at an Alfie concert (short guest appearances excluded).  Alfie himself says that he’d probably be lynched if he ever left it out and has been known to joke at concerts that “you can all go home now, that’s what you came for, isn’t it?” straight after singing the song. Being an Alfie fan it’s all too easy to forget that Bring Him Home was actually written for someone, not simply for the show.  Of course, I’m talking about Colm Wilkinson and one of the most interesting parts of the programme for me was an Oxford College music director talking about how the power of the tenor voice is contained in the song, producing such an emotional response in the listener; we are aware that the voice could soar into the rafters but doesn’t.  The power is in the restraint and of course the words which perfectly capture the feeling of a prayer – the song is referred to as The Prayer in the show.  The lyricist, Herbert Kretzmer, interviewed for the programme, said that on the face of it, it could be a difficult song to write as an atheist but wasn’t as he did not need to believe in God, just in Jean Valjean’s belief in God. Alfie was one of several people interviewed for the programme and his contribution was short and right at the beginning.  He talked movingly about how much the song means to him professionally and personally and how much he has gained by his association with it but the interesting thing was the challenge of getting the words right; get that right and the tune almost comes along by itself.  Being vocally tired when singing such an emotionally charged song means that the song sounds different, Bring Him Home is Alfie’s most famous song and also the most famous song to come out of the show for which it was written, Les Miserables.  Unsurprisingly, it was voted as Alfie Boe’s Best Ever Song by fans in 2014 and is the one song which is always heard at an Alfie concert (short guest appearances excluded).  Alfie himself says that he’d probably be lynched if he ever left it out and has been known to joke at concerts that “you can all go home now, that’s what you came for, isn’t it?” straight after singing the song.  Being an Alfie fan it’s all too easy to forget that Bring Him Home was actually written for someone, not simply for the show.  Of course, I’m talking about Colm Wilkinson and one of the most interesting parts of the programme for me was an Oxford College music director talking about how the power of the tenor voice is contained in the song, producing such an emotional response in the listener; we are aware that the voice could soar into the rafters but doesn’t.  The power is in the restraint and of course the words which perfectly capture the feeling of a prayer – the song is referred to as The Prayer in the show.  The lyricist, Herbert Kretzmer, interviewed for the programme, said that on the face of it, it could be a difficult song to write as an atheist but wasn’t as he did not need to believe in God, just in Jean Valjean’s belief in God.