Les Miserable: Do You Hear the People Sing? Singing The Song of Angry Men (and Women)
Les Miserable is a classic broadway show (not the Hollywood movie which sucked in my opinion). Loved the show when I saw it in London almost a decade and half ago. Although it was kind of depressing yet inspiring at the same time. The music and characters are amazing. But the song that stuck in my head was “Do You Hear The People Sing?” sung by the young Idealists & Revolutionaries during their ill fated uprising. The 1832 Paris Uprising for History buffs.
The video is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1q82twrdr0U
But don’t just watch it, do read the actual lyrics below.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the 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!
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?
Then join in the fight
That will give you the right to be free!
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the 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!
Will you give all you can give
So that our banner may advance
Some will fall and some will live
Will you stand up and take your chance?
The blood of the martyrs
Will water the meadows of France!
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing the songs of angry men?
It is the music of the 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
It’s so powerful. So majestic and highlights what all of us want. Opportunity, a better and more prosperous future. Freedom.
I sang this song with my kid all the time during my 2 year sabbatical after I left Yahoo! because it epitomized my search for a new beginning and freedom from working for “the Man.”
It led to me joining 500 Startups and becoming a venture capitalist which opened up an exciting new world to me. But I still wasn’t free then. It took getting booted out (nicely I might add) and the financial and mental hell of the 2020 pandemic to wake me up to that fact.
I have so many friends and ex-colleagues stuck in the matrix. Working at companies or jobs they hate. There is a reason people call a JOB=Just Over Broke. Dealing with financial challenges or bad relationships or living in bad situations. Desperate. You feel helpless and it’s soul destroying. I know, I’ve been there.
Freedom is not free as Ukrainians have shown. Financial independence & wealth has to be earned. Anything worthwhile needs to be fought for. So whatever it is that you are trying to accomplish: be prepared for a lot of pain and a lot of work.
So for those who want to fix this and are embarking on your personal journey of discovery and business but are scared: get angry! Get angry at your situation, get angry at your own fear, weakness and laziness. It might just be enough to get you moving & doing something.
So keep the below words from the song in mind:
“Is there a world you long to see? Then join in the fight. That will give you the right to be free!
And most importantly take action! This way you might realize your own new bright future.
