At the End of the Day
Crowd: At the end of the day you're another day older
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor!
It's a struggle, it's a war
And there's nothing that anyone's giving
One more day standing about
What is it for?
One day less to be living!
At the end of the day you're another day colder
And the shirt on your back doesn't keep out the chill
And the righteous hurry past
They don't hear the little ones crying
And the plague is coming on fast, ready to kill!
One day nearer to dying!
Joly: Plague? That wasn't in the original! Aaaaaaahhhhhh! Everybody quarantine! Disinfect! Sanitize! *runs around spraying Lysol*
Foreman: At the end of the day you get nothing for nothing!
Sitting flat on your bum doesn't buy any bread! *smacks woman worker on said body part*
Woman 1: Hey, did you just touch me! Harassment! Workplace assault!
Foreman: But this is 1823, there are no laws to protect workers yet, so you have to put up with my malfeasance.
Fantine: I go through this every day.
Woman 2: Ooh, what's that, Fantine? A private letter? Let me read it out loud for all to hear! *snatches letter and reads* le gasp! You have a kid? You've obviously been sleeping around!
Valjean: What's going on? Someone tear these two apart! This is a factory, not a circus!
Woman 2: Are you sure about that? You are P. T. Barnum.
Valjean: I don't know what you're talking about.
Foreman: Fantine, you're fired because you won't get in bed with me—-I mean because you're accused of being a prostitute!
Fantine: Oh dear! Now I'll have to actually become a prostitute to support Cosette!
Lovely Ladies
*upbeat tune starts playing*
Director: Stop the music!
Narrator: But Lovely Ladies comes next!
Director: The author says we're cutting that song! Gotta maintain our PG rating, after all.
Narrator: But that's a crucial part of Fantine's story!
Director: Not to worry. It'll still be covered, just in the style of the Brick. Here, read what's written on this piece of paper.
Narrator: "And so Fantine became a woman of the town." Okay, I think that solves our dilemma.
I Dreamed a Dream
Fantine: *lying on a bed, having just finished with her first customer* I can't believe how far I've fallen. I'm so despondent I can't do anything but sing.
I dreamed a dream in time gone by
When hope was high and life worth living
I dreamed that love would never die
I dreamed that God would be forgiving.
Then I was young and unafraid
And dreams were made and used and wasted
There was no ransom to be paid
No song unsung, no wine untasted.
But the tigers come at night
With their voices soft as thunder
*record needle scratch* Wait, tigers? Is that supposed to mean men with malicious intent? Why tigers? Why not call them wolves? That's a better metaphor. And how are their voices soft, but also thunderous?
Director: Just finish the song!
Fantine: Alright!
But still I dream he'll come to me
That we will live the years together. (Maybe I should stop hoping, because it doesn't look like he's ever coming back.)
Now life has killed the dream I dreamed!
*coughs* Ugh, I think I'm coming down with something. And the "work" I'm doing certainly isn't going to improve my health.
Joly: Do you know how many diseases you could get from doing that with just one person alone? You could get infections like—-
Fantine: I know, Joly, it's not like I want to do this! But at least my voice won't be affected! I'll still sing just as beautifully when I die!
The factory worker saying Valjean was P.T. Barnum was because Hugh Jackman played both roles. I laughed when he said that line in the 2012 movie.