"Reverse" by Gabrielle Aplin
As sung by Les Amis de l'ABC and Fantine. ((Yes, I am well aware that they did not have magazines and TV back then.))
It has been three hours since the the excitement of building the barricade in the hopes of starting a new world. Three hours since the parade honoring Lamarque's death. Three hours since they lit the flame on the torch of a new world.
Enjolras was absentmindedly scribbling battle plans on a spare scrap of parchment when a voice cut through the silence. It was Feuilly, perched on the edge of a lopsided chair and fingering a fan. Feuilly certainly didn't have a terrible voice, so Enjolras stopped what he was doing and simply looked at the readhead rather expectantly, listening.
"I've sat and watched this city crumble,
Just as it was being built"
Jean Prouvaire, never one to miss a poetic or sad moment, joined in and harmonized his voice with Feuilly's.
"The bigger it gets the less it's thought of
But I'm just scared of losing all that we have left"
Enjolras was startled for a minute. This certainly wasn't akin to the empowering, hope-filled songs they had been singing earlier.
Almost as if it had been planned, Lesgle and Grantaire joined in, their combined voices echoing in the alleys and capturing the attention of everyone who could hear."And the colours of these roads are matching the rainy sky
We're too blind to see what's really here,
In front of our eyes"
As if satisfied that they had gotten the moment started, the four original singers fell back to let other continue the song. And they did- Joly's deeper voice combined with Marius's, with the more feminine voices of Éponine and Musichetta.
"I hope someday this will all reverse,
And send us back to the times before,
Before we grew up and lost the novelty of,
Clear blue skies and, climbing trees,
Can't you see what our lies have come to be?"
Almost in a whisper, Enjolras sung the last line.
"Can't you see what our lies have come to be?"
As if spurred on by his best friend, the man of marble, joining their depressing little song, Courfeyrac stood up from his spot on top of an old wooden trunk. He sang.
"We used to just make friends so easily,
Never judging anyone,
Was how it's meant to be"
Combeferre sensed what Courfeyrac was trying to say and adjusted his glasses, wondering if he should a split second before he added his lower voice to Courfeyrac's higher one and sung of the truth he knew all too well.
"Our parents were always heroes in our eyes
But TV and magazines soon, changed our minds"
Enjolras's cracked lips formed a slight smile and he joined his two best friends.
"And the colours of these roads are matching the rainy sky
We're too blind to see what's really here,
In front of our eyes"
Combeferre and Enjolras dropped out as Feuilly joined in the song once more.
"I hope someday this will all reverse,
And send us back to the times before,
Before we grew up and lost the novelty of,
Clear blue skies and, climbing trees,
Can't you see what our lies have come to be?"
Feuilly continued the song alone, almost as if lost in the deep world of thought. No one could be quite sure if they heard Grantaire's voice underlining Feuilly's.
"Can't you see what our lies have come to be...?"
Those at the barricade stopped singing, fully intending to end the song there, but the sky had other ideas. A faint echo of a high voice drifted into everyone's minds as they sat upon their barricade. Fantine took pity on the young men and sang for them, but also, almost subconsciously, of her trials and harships and sacrifices.
I watched all the ones I loved turn into rust
Wearing almost nothing they, go out after dusk
As if to be accepted you need to sell yourself
They need to learn there's much more to this world...
Enjolras, a full-time motivational speech writer, felt as if the song could be greatly expanded from where Fantine had left it, and added a verse onto it.
"And the colours of these roads are matching the rainy sky
We're too blind to see what's really here,
In front of our eyes"
Grantaire sensed this was the moment. His heart racing, partly from fear -or excitement, he couldn't tell- and partly from drink, he took a deep breath and joined the man he admired more than anything in the world.
I hope someday this will all reverse,
And send us back to the times before,
Before we grew up and lost the novelty of,
Clear blue skies and, climbing trees,
Can't you see what our lies have come to be?
There. One verse, but Enjolras had not stopped, he had not been openly rejected like every other time. Maybe it was just the mood of the night, but it was a step forward.
Everyone on the barricade sing the last line together, everyone thinking of and remembering different things-
"Can't you see what our lies have come to be?"