Building The Barricade Lyrics - Les Miserables

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Anthony Warlow (Enjolras), Philip Quast (Javert), Michael Ball (Marius), Kaho Shimada (Éponine), Gary Morris (Valjean) and the Les Misérables International Cast Ensemble
• Producer: David Caddick
• Composer: Claude-Michel Schönberg
• Lyricists: Alain Boublil, Herbert Kretzmer, Jean-Marc Natel
• Conductor / Music Director: Martin Koch :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
• Orchestrations: John Cameron; performed by a 72-member London Philharmonia Orchestra :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
• Release Date: December 2, 1988 (album)
• Genre: Symphonic musical-theatre, dramatic show-tune
• Instruments: full strings, woodwinds, 4 horns, trumpets, trombones, timpani & kit, harp, dual keyboards, guitars, electric bass
• Mood: Urgent, conspiratorial, adrenaline-charged
• Length: ~3 min (varies by edition) :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}
• Label: Exallshow Ltd / Relativity Records
• Language: English (French variant “La première barricade”)
• Album: Les Misérables: The Complete Symphonic Recording
• Meter: Mixed trochaic and anapaestic speech-song
• Copyrights ©: 1980, 1985 Alain Boublil Music Ltd / Schönberg Music Ltd

Song Meaning and Annotations

The overture to Act II, “Building the Barricade,” drops us straight into revolutionary boot-noise. Violins tremble on a rapid sixteenth-note ostinato while cellos grind out the heartbeat of a city about to riot. Within thirty-two bars Claude-Michel Schönberg unveils a brand-new melodic fragment—dangerously close to a march yet unsettled enough to feel improvised, like paving stones yanked up on the fly. It’s the musical DNA that will later mutate into the thunder of “At the Barricade” and the anguish of “Night of Anguish.” :contentReference[oaicite:3]{index=3}

What makes these Building the Barricade lyrics (brief as they are) so potent is their pragmatic poetry. Enjolras’s utilitarian instructions (“Each man to his duty”) collide with Grantaire’s bar-fly cynicism and Éponine’s half-whispered heartbreak. The script flips every ten seconds: idealism, infiltration, flirtation, espionage. Schönberg scores each faction with its own timbre—brass for Enjolras’s authority, sly clarinet figures when Javert (already undercover) boasts of past wars, and, finally, a harp glissando when Valjean reads Marius’s letter, hinting at paternal grace. :contentReference[oaicite:4]{index=4}

In staging, the number is often intercut with real timber and sandbags literally piled by the ensemble. Directors love the tableau because it lets the audience watch a set assemble in real time—theatre carpentry as narrative muscle. The 2012 film compresses the scene, but you can still hear fragments of the theme under the street-urchin hubbub. :contentReference[oaicite:5]{index=5}

Verse Highlights

Enjolras’s Call

Here upon these stones, we build our barricade / In the heart of the city we claim as our own

The melody vaults a proud fifth, mirroring the physical climb onto stacked furniture.

Javert’s Infiltration

I know their ways, fought their wars, served my time in the days of my youth!

A sly modal shift from A-minor to C-major paints false camaraderie before the orchestra slithers back to minor.

Éponine & Marius

Hey, little boy, what’s this I see? / God, Éponine, the things you do!

The tempo slackens—the barricade pauses while personal stakes surface—then snaps back to 120 BPM as the revolution reclaims centre-stage.

Similar Songs

1. “Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)” – Hamilton (2015)
   Both tracks stitch tactical orders into rap-speed patter lines; percussion becomes plot. Where Enjolras wields triads, Hamilton fires triplets, yet each summons a live-wire sense of DIY nation-building.
2. “The Morning of the Dragon” – Miss Saigon (1989)
   Schönberg’s other mega-musical also features militant drums, shouted ensemble refrains, and the sound of crowds seizing destiny—this time in Saigon’s neon chaos rather than Parisian cobblestone gloom.
3. “Santa Fe (Prologue)” – Newsies (1992)
   While stylistically lighter, the Newsboys’ vow to “build the city of their dreams” mirrors the barricaders’ bricks-and-hope ethos. Both songs celebrate youthful uprising against entrenched power.

Questions and Answers

Why is the piece sometimes labelled “At the Barricade” instead of “Building the Barricade”?

The Complete Symphonic Recording swapped the subtitles by accident; later re-pressings kept the misprint, so fans now recognise both names. :contentReference[oaicite:6]{index=6}

Was this segment cut in the 2012 film?

Mostly—it survives as underscore beneath brief dialogue; the full sung text appears only on extended soundtrack editions. :contentReference[oaicite:7]{index=7}

Which orchestral forces play on the 1988 album?

A 72-piece London Philharmonia Orchestra, recorded across three studios for true symphonic heft. :contentReference[oaicite:8]{index=8}

Is there a French equivalent?

The 1991 Paris revival calls it “La première barricade,” trimming Éponine’s courier scene. :contentReference[oaicite:9]{index=9}

Did the album win any major awards?

Yes—the Complete Symphonic Recording earned the 1990 Grammy for Best Musical Cast Show Album. :contentReference[oaicite:10]{index=10}

Awards and Chart Positions

• Grammy Award – Best Musical Cast Show Album (1990) for the Complete Symphonic Recording :contentReference[oaicite:11]{index=11}
• The album’s UK release reached the Top 20 of the Official Compilation Chart (cast category) during 1989 :contentReference[oaicite:12]{index=12}

Fan and Media Reactions

“The Building the Barricade lyrics are basically stage directions set to a war chant—chef’s kiss.” – Reddit /r/musicals thread

“Hearing Michael Ball toss off ‘Get out, ’Ponine!’ over a 90-piece sweep still floors me.” – CastAlbums user review

“10th Anniversary concert stretches the scene to six minutes—absolute gift for Enjolras die-hards.” – Playbill forum comment

“Schönberg invents a whole new theme here, then never gives it its own song—so unfair!” – Twitter music-theatre podcast host

“Film cut it, but the underscore pops up when Eddie Redmayne first shoulders a rifle—blink and you’ll miss it.” – Letterboxd review