"Do You Hear The People Sing?" by Les Miserables
Do you hear the people sing? Singing a 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!
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!
[All:] Do you hear the people sing? Singing a 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!
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!
[All:] Do you hear the people sing? Singing a 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
This song is a socialist anthem that does not appear on an album.
The socialist anthem is almost identical to the song Beast of England sang by Old Major in the novel Animal Farm. The “angry men” represent the “beast of England” which symbolize the working class. Bold individuals like the Communist party and the pigs stand to start a revolution against their sole rulers and ask for the rest, “Beast of every land and clime”, to join their “crusade”. Both the animals and the Russians hope to “one day be free” and no longer “be slaves”. They both see a bright future ahead of themselves once they overthrow their tyrant rule.