Plumet Attack Lyrics - Les Miserables

Song Overview

Song Credits

• Featured: Alun Armstrong (Thénardier) & Frances Ruffelle (Éponine) plus ensemble
• Producers: Alain Boublil, Claude-Michel Schönberg
• Composer: Claude-Michel Schönberg
• Lyricists: Alain Boublil, Jean-Marc Natel (orig. French); Herbert Kretzmer (English adaptation)
• Orchestrator / Music Supervisor: John Cameron
• Release Date: 1985 (Original London Cast LP); digital re-issues 1990 ? 2024
• Label: Exallshow Ltd / First Night Records
• Genre: Epic-sung through musical theatre, quasi-opera
• Length: 1:57
• Instruments (pit): 2 flutes/piccolo, oboe, clarinet/sax, bassoon, 4 horns, 2 trumpets, 3 trombones, timpani & kit, percussion, harp, 2 keyboards (synth & piano), guitars, bass, full strings
• Mood: Menacing, furtive, suspense-tinged
• Language: English (original French verses exist)
• Album: Les Misérables (Original 1985 London Cast Recording)
• Meter: Mostly trochaic with speech-song interjections
• Copyrights ©: 1980, 1985 Alain Boublil Music Ltd / Schönberg Music Ltd

Song Meaning and Annotations

If Act I of Les Misérables is a pressure cooker, “Plumet Attack” is the hiss of steam before the lid blows. Within two terse minutes the number flips the romantic glow of “A Heart Full of Love” into a back-alley burglary: low strings tremble, woodwinds skitter like picklocks, and brass bursts puncture the hush every time Thénardier smirks about “profit.” The lyrics lean hard on street argot—“hussy,” “old fox,” “cost him dear”—painting the villainy in broad, music-hall strokes while the orchestration peels through noirish diminished chords.

Dramaturgically the song earns its keep. Éponine’s panicked shriek (often miked from the wings for realism) detonates the gang’s plot and inadvertently tips Valjean that the law is — maybe — closing in again. In the original novel Hugo spends an entire chapter on the attempted robbery; Schönberg and Boublil distill that energy into an operetta-sized heist motif, borrowing rhythmic snapping from Puccini one moment, then sliding into synth-bass swells that root the piece squarely in 1980s mega-musical gloss.

Every major English-language version keeps the core of the Plumet Attack lyrics, but trims or expands the Montparnasse-Éponine exchange depending on running time. The 2012 film compresses the scene to a near-whispered dialogue underscored by strings only, whereas the 2010 O? concert restoration stretches it to almost six minutes, letting the Patron-Minette quartet snarl their individual threats.

Key Thematic Beats

1. Thénardier’s “I smell profit here”

This is his lair, I’ve seen the old fox around / I smell profit here!

The octave leap on the word profit underlines pure greed—Schönberg’s musical equivalent of a cartoon cash register bell.

2. Éponine’s moral pivot

I’m gonna scream, I’m gonna warn them here

Her line sits on a rising minor third that refuses resolution, echoing the character’s impossible dilemma between family and conscience.

3. The ensemble scurry

The gang’s exit is underscored by a furious 6/8 string run, a musical alley-cat scramble that melts into a pedal tone as Marius steps forward—signalling the hand-off from crime to romance.

Similar Songs

1. “The Robbery” – Oliver! (1960)
   Both pieces stage criminal mischief through jaunty patter and quick-step orchestration. Where “Plumet Attack” plunges into minor-key anxiety, Lionel Bart uses a cabaret bounce—yet each song spotlights streetwise survival and a child caught in adults’ scheming.
2. “No Good Deed” – Wicked (2003)
   Elphaba’s raging spell and Éponine’s desperate scream share a core ingredient: a single female voice piercing a dark orchestral swell to derail the narrative. Stephen Schwartz acknowledged borrowing harmonic tension from Les Mis’s middle-period songs.
3. “The Siege of Yorktown” – Hamilton (2015)
   Lin-Manuel Miranda crafts battlefield suspense with drumline ostinatos and tight ensemble trade-offs, much as Schönberg layers Patron-Minette’s overlapping threats. Both tracks turn tactical jargon into high-stakes musical drama.

Questions and Answers

Is “Plumet Attack” the same number as “Attack on Rue Plumet”?

Yes; London recordings abbreviate the title, while Broadway, symphonic, and concert albums use the longer form.

Does the 2012 film include the full song text?

No—Tom Hooper’s adaptation trims the ensemble verses, opting for dialogue underscored by fragments of the original motif.

How long is the track on the 1985 album?

Just under two minutes—exactly 1:57 on most digital editions.

Are there notable alternative versions?

The 10th Anniversary Dream Cast (1995) and 25th Anniversary O? Concert (2010) both present expanded renditions running 3–6 minutes, allowing more patter for Brujon and Montparnasse.

Did Victor Hugo write a similar scene?

He did—Chapter VIII of Book VIII (Cosette) details Thénardier’s attempted burglary, though Hugo’s prose spends far more time on Valjean’s internal panic.

Awards and Chart Positions

• Laurence Olivier Award: Les Misérables won Musical of the Year (1985), the year “Plumet Attack” debuted on stage
• RIAA: The Original Broadway Cast album (which retains “Plumet Attack”) certified 4× Multi-Platinum (1998)

Fan and Media Reactions

“Those descending strings still give me goose-bumps—mini horror flick inside a love story.” – user comment, Playbill forum

“Hard to believe the whole burglary suspense resolves in under two minutes on the OLC; it feels epic.” – MusicBoard review

“10th Anniversary version is my go-to; the added Montparnasse verse is deliciously seedy.” – YouTube user on Royal Albert Hall clip

“OLC vinyl omits ‘Plumet Attack’—a crime almost as bad as Thénardier’s.” – Reddit discussion

“Bandcamp hip-hop mash-up ‘Éponine Scream’ proves this tiny scene can inspire whole new genres.” – Indie blog review