Claude-Michel Schönberg
Lovely Ladies
[SAILOR #1]
I smell women, smell 'em in the air
Think I'll drop my anchor in that harbor over there

[SAILOR #2]
Lovely ladies, smell 'em through the smoke
Seven days at sea can make you hungry for a poke

[SAILOR #3]
Even stokers need a little stoke!

[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies, waiting for a bite
Waiting for the customers who only come at night
Lovely ladies, waiting for the call
Standing up or lying down or any way at all
Bargain prices up against the wall

[OLD WOMAN (approaching Fantine)]
Come here, my dear, let's see this trinket you wear
This bagatelle

[FANTINE]
Madame, I'll sell it to you

[OLD WOMAN]
I'll give you four
[FANTINE]
That wouldn't pay for the chain

[OLD WOMAN]
I'll give you five. You're far too eager to sell
It's up to you...

[FANTINE]
It's all I have

[OLD WOMAN]
That's not my fault

[FANTINE]
Please make it ten

[OLD WOMAN]
No more than five
My dear, we all must stay alive

[WOMEN]
Lovely ladies, waiting in the dark
Ready for a thick one or a quick one in the park

[WHORE #1]
Long time, short time, any time, my dear
Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!
[WOMEN]
Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!

[CRONE (approaching Fantine)]
What pretty hair, what pretty locks you got there
What luck you got, it's worth a centime my dear
I'll take the lot

[FANTINE]
Don't touch me! Leave me alone

[CRONE]
Let's make a price, I'll give you all of ten francs
Just think of that

[FANTINE]
It pays a debt

[CRONE]
Just think of that

[FANTINE]
What can I do? It pays a debt
Ten francs may save my poor Cosette [SAILORS] [WHORES] Lovely lady Lovely ladies Fastest on the street Lovely little girls Wasn't there three minutes Lovely ladies She was back up on her feet Lovely little ladies Lovely lady Lovely girlies What you waiting for Lovely little girls Doesn't take a lot of savvy We are lovely Just to be a whore Lovely girls Come on, lady Lovely ladies What's a lady for What's a lady for [PIMP]
Give me the dirt, who's that bit over there
[WHORE #1]
A bit of skirt, she's the one sold her hair

[WHORE #2]
She's got a kid, sends her all that she can

[PIMP]
I might have known, there is always some man
Lovely lady, come along and join us
Lovely lady

[WHORE #1]
Come on dearie, why all the fuss
You're no grander than the rest of us
Life has dropped you at the bottom of the heap
Join your sisters—

[WHORE #2]
—Make money in your sleep

[WHORE #1]
That's right, dearie, let him have the lot

[WHORE #3]
That's right, dearie, show him what you've got

[WOMEN]
Old men, young men, take 'em as they come
Harbor rats and alley cats and every type of scum
Poor men, rich men, leaders of the land
See them with their trousers off, they're never quite as grand
All it takes is money in your hand

Lovely ladies, going for a song
Got a lot of callers, but they never stay for long

[FANTINE]
Come on, Captain, you can wear your shoes
Don't it make a change to have a girl who can't refuse?
Easy money, lying on a bed
Just as well they never see the hate that's in your head
Don't they know they're making love to one already dead?