At The Barricade Lyrics
At The Barricade
(Upon These Stones)[The barricade is now complete.]
[COMBEFERRE, FEUILLY, COURFEYRAC & PROUVAIRE]
Now we pledge ourselves to hold this barricade.
[Marius:]
Let them come in their legions, and they will be met.
[Enjolras:]
Have faith in yourselves, and do not be afraid.
Rebel:[GRANTAIRE]
Let's give 'em a screwing they'll never forget!
[COMBEFERRE]
This is where it begins,
[COURFEYRAC]
and if I should die in the fight to be free,
where the fighting is hardest, there will I be.
[FEUILLY]
Let them come if they dare, we'll be there!
(Yells):
He's back! It's the volunteer!
[Javert:]
Listen my friends, I have done what I said,
I have been to their lines, I have counted each man,
I will tell you what I can.
Let it be warned, they have armies to spare, and our danger is real.
We will need all our cunning to bring them to heel.
[Enjolras:]
Have faith, if you know what their movements are, we'll spoil their game.
There are ways that people can fight.
We shall overcome their power!
[Javert:]
I have overheard their plans,
There will be no attack tonight.
They intend to starve us out before they start a proper fight.
Concentrate their force, hit us from the right.
[Gavroche:]
Liar!
Good evening, dear inspector, lovely evenin' my dear.
I know this man, my friends, his name's Inspector Javert.
So don't believe a word he says 'cause none of it's true.
This only goes to show what little people can do.
Rebel:
Bravo, little Gavroche, you're the top of the class!
So what are we gonna do with this snake in the grass?
[Enjolras:]
Tie this man, and take him to the tavern in there.
The people will decide your fate, Inspector Javert.
[Javert:]
Shoot me now, or shoot me later
Every schoolboy to his sport, and death to each and every traitor,
I renounce your people's court.
[Enjolras:]
Take this man, bring him through, there is work we have to do.
Rebel (yells):
There's a boy climbing the barricade!
Song Overview
Song Credits
- Featured Voices: Michael Maguire (Enjolras), Anthony Crivello (Grantaire), David Bryant (Marius), and ensemble students
- Producers: Alain Boublil & Claude-Michel Schönberg
- Composers: Claude-Michel Schönberg (music); Alain Boublil & Herbert Kretzmer (English verse adaptation)
- Release Date: May 11, 1987
- Album: Les Misérables (Original Broadway Cast Recording) – Track 23
- Genre: Broadway Musical / Dramatic Choral March
- Length: 2 min 12 sec
- Label: Geffen Records (first press), later Verve/UMG re-issues
- Language: English
- Instruments: Brass fanfare, snare rolls, low strings, concert bass drum, male chorus
- Mood: Defiant, charged, martial
- Copyright © 1987 Alain Boublil Music Ltd. & Claude-Michel Schönberg Ltd. All rights reserved.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Upon These Stones (At the Barricade) hurls us into the tense, torch-lit night of 4 June 1832 as Parisian students finish stacking furniture and paving stones. Where earlier numbers lingered in melodic reverie, this tiny fire-cracker barrels forward in cut-time, snare snapping like musket triggers.
Musically, Claude-Michel Schönberg re-ignites the dotted-rhythm fanfare first heard in “Red and Black”—only now the harmony is darker, bass drum underpinning the chant with a funeral heartbeat. The Lyrics trade romantic idealism for blunt determination: “Now we pledge ourselves to hold this barricade.” Every line lands like a brick mortared into revolt.
Emotionally, the arc flickers between bravado and looming dread. Grantaire’s bawdy one-liner (“Let’s give ’em a screwing…”) collides with the officer’s cold loud-hailer, a sonic megaphone that pierces the orchestra. It’s the point of no return: dreamers are about to become martyrs.
“Damn their warnings, damn their lies / They will see the people rise!”
The couplet borrows its melodic bones from “Do You Hear the People Sing?”—a clever callback that ties personal sacrifice to wider civic uprising. Victor Hugo’s June Rebellion may have fizzled historically, but onstage the barricade stands as mythic altar, built quite literally upon these stones.
Opening Chant
The ensemble locks into a unison B-flat, evoking military drum-and-bugle signals. Harmonically static, it mirrors physical strain: stones hoisted, furniture overturned.
Marius & Enjolras Duo
Marius fires off triplet-ridden top-tenor lines, while Enjolras answers in sturdy baritone—idealism versus command. Their contrapuntal phrase suggests the revolution’s many voices striving for one cause.
The Army Officer’s Ultimatum
Delivered offstage through a tinny loud-hailer effect, the timbre compresses—like distant thunder signalling storm troops. Silence follows, more chilling than any chord.
Motivic Threads
- Snare tattoo borrowed from “One Day More” battlefield section.
- Rising fourth interval on “We’ll be there!” mirrors the Marseillaise opening, sewing patriotic DNA into the tune.
- Block chords land on down-beats, matching the physical act of bracing furniture.
Similar Songs
- “Do You Hear the People Sing?” – Original Broadway Cast of Les Misérables
Both numbers ignite mass participation, but “Do You Hear…” is a rousing anthem while Upon These Stones (At the Barricade) is a tactical war-room. The latter’s Lyrics feel immediate—orders barked across overturned carts—whereas the anthem zooms out to a city-wide chorus. Harmonically they share major-key optimism laced with minor inflections foreshadowing loss. - “Non-Stop” – Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast)
Lin-Manuel Miranda’s rapid-fire montage echoes Schönberg’s collage technique. Both songs condense political fervor, cross-cutting between characters. Instrumentally, woodblock and snare conjure Revolutionary cadence, and layered hooks give listeners the sense of history unfurling in real time. - “The Heat Is On in Saigon” – Miss Saigon (Original London Cast)
Same composers, new conflict. Saigon’s opening track welds pounding percussion to collective male chorus—mirroring the barricade’s testosterone rush. Yet where Saigon drips with neon despair, the barricade crackles with idealistic certainty, two distant wars joined by musical DNA.
Questions and Answers
- Why does the officer’s warning sound muffled?
- The creative team used a backstage loud-hailer to mimic 1830s megaphones, underlining the spatial gulf—authority outside, rebels inside.
- Is the melody new or recycled?
- Mostly recycled: Enjolras’s line pivots on “Red and Black,” while the final refrain nods to “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
- How historically accurate is the barricade scene?
- Hugo based it on the June 1832 uprising; students really did barricade the narrow rue Saint-Martin with furniture and wagons.
- What key signature dominates the piece?
- B-flat minor sliding to B-flat major in the shout “people rise,” symbolising hope piercing gloom.
- Who usually sings the Army Officer part?
- A swing or chorus member offstage; the role isn’t assigned to a principal, reinforcing the facelessness of state power.
Awards and Chart Positions
- The parent album won the Grammy Award for Best Musical Cast Show Album (1988).
- RIAA certification: 4× Platinum in the United States.
- Consistently ranks in the Top 10 of Broadway cast recordings streamed on major platforms.
Fan and Media Reactions
“Two minutes long yet it punches harder than most pop epics.” @BarricadeBuff
“Those snare hits make me sit bolt upright every time.” @DrumMajor42
“Grantaire’s cheeky line is comic gold before the heartbreak that follows.” @StageLeftSnark
“Hearing the officer through tin can reverb? Chills—pure audio cinema.” @SoundDesignGeek
“I played it for my civic-studies class; half the room volunteered for debate club.” @TeachMsLouise
Critics note that the track’s brevity disguises its architectural brilliance: it stitches six leitmotifs in 132 seconds, a masterclass in musical economy.