Lovely Ladies Lyrics

     [The docks.  Sailors, whores and their customers, pimps, etc.
     Fantine wanders in.]

Sailors
     I smell women
     Smell 'em in the air
     Think I'll drop my anchor
     In that harbor over there
     Lovely ladies
     Smell 'em through the smoke
     Seven days at sea
     Can make you hungry for a poke
     Even stokers need a little stoke!

Whores
     Lovely ladies
     Waiting for a bite
     Waiting for the customer
     Who only comes 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
     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 to 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!

Whores
     Lovely ladies
     Waiting in the dark
     Ready for a thick one
     Or a quick one in the park
     Long time short time
     Any time, my dear
     Cost a little extra if you want to take all year!
     Quick and cheap is underneath the pier!

Crone
     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 yer waiting for?                   Lovely little girls
     Doesn't take a lot of savvy             We are lovely, lovely girls
     Just to be a whore                      Lovely ladies
     Come on, lady                           What's a lady for?
     What's a lady for?

     [Fantine re-emerges, her long hair cut short.]

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!

Whores
     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, make money in your sleep!

     [Fantine goes off with one of the sailors.]

     That's right dearie, let him have the lot
     That's right dearie, show him what you've got!

     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 shame that's in your head
     Don't they know they're making love
     To one already dead!