The Princesses Of France And The Revolution

Do You Hear The People Sing

All down the streets, waiting, the silent faces of the poor. Among them we see Julius, Enjolras, Marius, and the radical students. Police and national guardsmen control the growing crowds. Now into view come The leaders of a great funeral procession.An entire battalion of infantry, marching with weapons reversed. A column of black-suited dignitaries carrying branches of laurel. A division of Cavalry rides in front, behind a section of military drummers who drum a military tatoo. Comes a team of black horses stepping slowly, black plumes nodding, drawing behind them a gun carriage draped in the tricolour flag. On the carriage stands a coffin. Softly, in time with the drums, the watching people begin to sing. 

Crowd: Do you hear the people sing Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people. Who will not be slaves again! The police and guardsmen look round to see who is singing so subversively, but they can't be sure where it's coming from. The singing grows stronger. Crowd: When the beating of your heart. Echoes the beating of the drums. There is a life about to start. When tomorrow comes! The dignitaries become aware of the singing, and glance uneasily from side to side. Crowd: Will you join in our crusade? Who will be strong and stand with me? Beyond the barricade. Is there a world you long to see? As the coffin on its carriage draws level with the students, Julius suddenly steps out in front of the horses drawing the carriage and waves the red flag, stopping the horses and the procession. 

Julius: Then join in the fight. That will give you the right. To be free! The students break the ranks of the crowd and surround the coffin carriage. Students/Crowd: Do you hear the people sing. Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people. Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart. Echoes the beating of the drums. There is a life about to start. When tomorrow comes! Enjolras, Marius and Julius and other students climb onto the top of the carriage as the horses and led by Combeferre. Julius: Will you give all you can give. So that our banner may advance? Courfeyrac: Some will fall and some will live. Will you stand up and take your chance? Julius/Enjolras/Marius: The blood of the martyrs.Will water the meadows of France! The crowd supports them and surround the coffin carriage, blocking the attempts of the police to intervene, singing with passion. 

Students/Crowd: Do you hear the people sing. Singing the song of angry men? It is the music of a people. Who will not be slaves again! When the beating of your heart. Echoes the beating of the drums. There is a life about to start. When tomorrow comes! Julius, the students, and the impassioned crowd have now become the procession. They turn off the main street away from the expected course of the funeral procession. Gavroche's elephant looms over this side street. Gavroche and his gang jump down from the elephant to join in. As the procession turns off, the calvary division gallop ahead and disappear round a corner. 

Students/Crowd: 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 we bring. When tomorrow comes! The students and crowd come face to face with the calvary. On one side, muskets of the infantry poke through the broken down fence surrounding the elephant. Other infantry have taken up position in a cafe opposite, upending tables to provide cover. There is a tense, prolonged silence. Then suddenly one nervous soldier lets off a round. It hits a middle aged kindly looking woman citizen in the crowd around the coffin carriage. The crowd is furious. 

Students charge the soldier, grab his musket and knock him down with the hilt of the gun. More shots ring out. The cavalry charges. The funeral explodes into a riot. The people of Paris turn on the dragoons, the National Guards, the police. More squadrons of dragoons charge into the crowd, sabres unsheathed. Women run screaming in terror. Julius: To the barricades! Students/Crowd: To the barricades! To arms! To arms! Some students fire weapons into the air, some into the cavalry and at the infantry. Julius knocks a cavalry officer off his horse and Marius jumps on the horse. 

The students break away and race off through the cafe into a side street where citizens begin to erect a barricade. A cavalry rider gives chase and is shot by one of the students and falls through the window of an upended carriage. The students, with Marius on horseback, race to the slums.