Do You Hear the People Sing? explained

Do You Hear the People Sing?
Released:1980
Composer:Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lyricist:Alain Boublil and Jean-Marc Natel (French lyrics)
Herbert Kretzmer (English lyrics)

"Do You Hear the People Sing?" ("French: À la volonté du peuple", literally To the will of the people, 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 opening and closing section of the stage musical.

Overview

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 concluding song or the d.c al fine 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 and thunderous 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. In the finale, the song transitions into a solemn hymn in which a world full of peace, freedom, and liberation is anticipated for all mankind.

Use in various languages

Use as a protest song

There are unofficial adaptations of "Do You Hear the People Sing?" in Cantonese and Taiwanese, intended as actual protest songs; better known versions include "Asking Who That Hasn't Spoken Out" (問誰未發聲), written in Cantonese for Occupy Central with Love and Peace, and "Lí Kám Ū Thiann-tio̍h Lán Ê Kua" (你敢有聽着咱的歌) in Taiwanese Hokkien.[8]

The song can be heard in protests in Hong Kong as recently as September 2019, when students sang this song over the national anthem during a secondary school's opening assembly.[9] [10] [11] The song was initially removed on music platforms including QQ Music in mainland China because of its widespread usage in anti-extradition bill protests, while its English version was later removed from those platforms.[12]

Aside from the aforementioned Cantonese and Taiwanese Hokkien adaptations, The Telegraph said that the song "has long chimed with people protesting around the world", adding that it was heard at the 2011 Wisconsin protests, the 2013 protests in Turkey, and a protest against the opening of a McDonald's restaurant in Australia in 2013. It has also been used by anti-TTIP protesters who have interrupted TTIP congresses as flashmobs singing the song.[13]

The song was also used in support of the Maidan protests in 2014 by the group Ukraine 2020, who released a music video for the song on YouTube.[14]

In 2016, the song was used as a protest song in South Korea's nationwide Park Geun-hye resignation movement.[15]

In 2017, the song was translated into Filipino by theater artists Vincent de Jesus, Rody Vera, and Joel Saracho, and has been performed at rallies to protest the killing of activists and drug suspects under the administration of Philippine president Rodrigo Duterte,[16] and again following the 2022 Philippine presidential election.

Iraqis involved in the protests in 2019 also released a video with the song used.[17]

In September 2020, a number of MSLU students in Minsk, Belarus, were detained after performing the song in the lobby of their educational institution. The students were protesting after president Alexander Lukashenko's disputed re-election.[18] [19]

In April 2022, the song was used as a protest song in 2022 Sri Lankan protests against the government of president Gotabaya Rajapaksa.[20]

In April 2022, a clip of the 2012 film version of the song circulated on Twitter in protest of the lockdown during the 2022 Shanghai COVID-19 outbreak. The clip was ultimately blocked by the Chinese government to stop further protest.[21]

Use in politics

On 16 September 2016, during his presidential campaign, Donald Trump used the song in a rally in Miami under the parody title Les Déplorables, a response to Hillary Clinton's controversial "basket of deplorables" label.[22] [23] On 15 November 2022, it was among the songs played before Trump announced his 2024 presidential campaign.[24]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2024-07-27 . Paris Olympics kicks off with lavish boat parade, musical performances . 2024-08-16 . NBC News . en.
  2. Web site: 2024-07-26 . The cultural references in the Olympic Opening Ceremonies, explained . 2024-08-16 . Washington Post . en.
  3. Web site: Duyuyor musun bizi İşte Çapulcunun Sesi Do you hear the people sing (HD) . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/ffWM_ymmRss . 15 December 2021 . live . 18 June 2013 . YouTube.
  4. Web site: 中文演唱2分钟起 Do You Hear The People Sing?悲惨世界 民众呐喊 人民之歌 in Chinese from 2:00 闪聚 快闪 . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/6p5jL7M325U . 15 December 2021 . live . 4 August 2013 . YouTube.
  5. Web site: Arab Idol – المشتركين الـ 27 – البؤساء . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/r7WsujEXWKQ . 15 December 2021 . live. YouTube . 22 June 2013 . 4 December 2019.
  6. News: "فبريكا" تقدم المسرحية الغنائية "البؤساء" على مسرح باسم يوسف . 5 December 2019.
  7. Web site: سامع صوت الجماهير؟ . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/RM8uQWTG32M . 15 December 2021 . live . YouTube . 18 June 2013 . 5 December 2019.
  8. News: How a song from Les Misérables became Hong Kong's protest anthem . 1 October 2014 . . London . Malcolm . Moore . 30 September 2014.
  9. News: Hong Kong students sing Les Misérables song instead of national anthem – video . . 4 September 2019 . . 13 September 2019 . en-GB . 0261-3077.
  10. News: Marks . Peter . The Hong Kong protesters have found an anthem in this song from 'Les Miz' . . 13 August 2019 . 13 August 2018.
  11. News: Helen . Regan . Ben . Westcott . Steve . George . James . Griffiths . Hong Kong protest sees hundreds of thousands call for city's leader to step down . 13 August 2019 . CNN . 16 June 2019.
  12. News: S.R. . Do you hear the people sing? Not in China . 13 August 2019 . . 14 June 2019.
  13. Web site: Cory . Doctorow . Flashmob choir interrupts TTIP congress . . 3 July 2015.
  14. Web site: Чи ви чуєте цей спів? . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/fpqvYA2_Tig . 15 December 2021 . live . 16 January 2014 . YouTube.
  15. Web site: "박 대통령 퇴진" 추위 녹인 촛불 … 평화시위 새 역사 썼다 . dt.co.kr.
  16. Web site: Arias . Jacqueline . 22 September 2017 . Filipino Version of Iconic 'Les Miserables' Song Becomes National Day of Protest Anthem . live . 19 October 2021 . Preen . en-US . https://web.archive.org/web/20200811155755/https://preen.ph/57199/filipino-version-of-iconic-les-miserables-song-becomes-national-day-of-protest-anthem . 11 August 2020.
  17. Web site: سارة ادم – هل تسمع غناء هذا الشعب . https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211215/bgxANFAgCpQ . 15 December 2021 . live . 3 November 2019 . YouTube.
  18. News: Жесткий разговор. Ректор МГЛУ покинула встречу со студентами и их родителями под крики "Позор!" . . 4 September 2020 . Никита Мелкозеров . Александр Чернухо . Татьяна Ошуркевич . 5 September 2020.
  19. News: Masked Men Drag Protesting Belarusian Students Off the Streets . . Reuters . 5 September 2020.
  20. Hapu . amritahapu . 1515368022638170112 . 16 April 2022 . so wonderful and powerful! #LesMiserables.
  21. News: China Web Users Race to Post Censored Video on Lockdown Troubles . . 23 April 2022.
  22. Robinson . Will . Donald Trump Enters Stage to 'Les Mis' Theme, Welcomes 'Deplorables' . 16 September 2016 . . 16 September 2016.
  23. News: Darcy . Oliver . Trump walks onstage to theme of 'Les Miserables,' greets 'deplorables' at his Miami rally . 16 September 2016 . . 16 September 2016.
  24. News: Smith . David . Trump plays the ousted autocrat struggling to recapture past glory . 17 November 2022 . The Guardian . 16 November 2022 . en.