Look Down Lyrics – Les Miserables

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featuring: Les Misérables: International Cast
• Producer: David Caddick
• Composer & Lyricist: Claude-Michel Schönberg; Herbert Kretzmer; Alain Boublil; Jean-Marc Natel
• Release Date: 1988
• Genre: Pop; Musicals
• Language: English
• Track #: 14
• Album: Les Misérables: The Complete Symphonic Recording

Song Meaning and Annotations

“Look Down” throws open the gates on Paris in 1832, casting the audience’s gaze onto the slums of Place Saint-Michel in the fifth arrondissement. Once medieval streets now stand dilapidated, the sweepings of the city floor where beggars, prostitutes and street urchins vie for survival. The melody mirrors that of “Overture / Work Song,” linking prison toil in Toulon to urban destitution—a reminder that the poor’s plight in Paris echoes that of inmates long ago.

Gavroche appears—though never stated onstage, he is the Thenardiers’ forsaken son and Éponine’s younger brother—owning these streets as “his high society.” He and the beggars live on stale bread crumbs and scraps of piety, given out of Christian goodwill yet insufficient to stave off hunger or tooth decay. Their jeering at each other—old beggar woman versus young prostitute—exposes a dog-eat-dog world where even “Christians” can turn mercy into moral cover for exploitation.

As Enjolras and Marius step forward, the song turns from parody to protest. Enjolras, the “angelic” student leader, vows revolution with fiery rhetoric borrowed from history: General La Marque—once a Napoleonic hero turned critic of King Louis-Philippe—was dead within weeks, and now the barricades of 1832 rise where 4,000 sprang up in the July Revolution. Their chant—“When’s it going to end?”—becomes a rallying cry for justice, transforming the humble waltz of the slums into the drumbeat of uprising.

“Look down and see the beggars at your feet / Look down and show some mercy if you can”

A direct appeal to the audience’s conscience, this chorus reframes luxury as complicity in suffering.

“These are my people, here’s my patch / We live on crumbs of humble piety”

Gavroche claims ownership of the streets and their meager sustenance, underlining how faith alone cannot fill empty bellies.

“Where are the leaders of the land? Where are the swells who run this show?”

A pointed challenge to the ruling class, using the archaic term “swells” to mock those fashionable elites who ignore the starving masses.

“It’ll come, it’ll come before we cut the fat ones down to size”

Enjolras’s warning signals the coming barricades, a promise that justice will not be denied indefinitely.

Similar Songs

1. “Overture / Work Song”
   The shared melody draws a clear line from forced labor in prison to grinding poverty on Paris streets. Both numbers use a driving orchestral motif to underscore injustice—whether it is the clank of prison chains or the shuffle of ragged feet. The ensemble voices merge into a powerful chorus, reminding us that the chains may change form but the hardship persists.
2. “Do You Hear the People Sing?”
   Transitioning from slum anthem to revolutionary march, this later chorus picks up Enjolras’s refrain and expands it into a mass call for uprising. Where “Look Down” surveys suffering, “Do You Hear the People Sing?” urges action, using similar rhythmic insistence to bind both songs in a united sound of protest.
3. “Cell Block Tango” from Chicago
   Though set in a different era, this ensemble piece also uses dark humor and tight rhythms to present marginalized voices. Both “Cell Block Tango” and “Look Down” employ staccato exchanges and biting lyrics to critique the systems that imprison and exploit—whether jail bars or societal neglect.

Questions and Answers

What historical setting does “Look Down” depict?

Paris in 1832, particularly the slums around Place Saint-Michel, where poverty and injustice fuel revolutionary fervor.

How does the melody connect to other parts of the show?

It parallels the “Overture / Work Song,” equating the suffering of prisoners with the plight of the urban poor.

Who is Gavroche in relation to the Thénardiers?

He is the Thenardiers’ abandoned son and Éponine’s younger brother, surviving on the streets rather than in his parents’ inn.

What does the repeated “It’ll come” signal?

Enjolras’s promise that revolution and the barricades are imminent, a countdown to judgment day for the corrupt.

Why is the term “swells” used?

Historically “swells” meant fashionable elites; its use mocks the upper class who ignore the suffering they help create.