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WOMAN ONE
Did you see them
Going off to fight?
WOMAN TWO
Children of the barricade
Who didn't last the night?
WOMAN THREE
Did you see them
Lying where they died?
Someone used to cradle them
And kiss them when they cried.
WOMAN FOUR
Did you see them lying side by side?
WOMAN FIVE
Who will wake them?
WOMAN SIX
No one ever will.
WOMAN TWO
No one ever told them
That a summer day can kill.
WOMAN SEVEN
They were schoolboys
Never held a gun...
Fighting for a new world
That would rise up like the sun.
WOMAN THREE
Where's that new world now the fighting's done?
WOMAN FOUR
Nothing changes.
WOMAN SEVEN
Nothing ever will.
WOMAN EIGHT
Every year another brat, another mouth to fill.
WOMAN SEVEN
Same old story. What's the use of tears?
WOMAN FIVE
What's the use of praying if there's nobody who hears?
ALL
Turning, turning, turning, turning, turning
Through the years.
Turning, turning, turning through the years
Minutes into hours and the hours into years.
Nothing changes. Nothing ever can
Round about the roundabout and back where you began.
Round and round and back where you began!
Did you see them
Going off to fight?
Children of the barricade
Who didn't last the night?
Did you see them
Lying where they died?
Someone used to cradle them
And kiss them when they cried.
Did you see them lying side by side?
Who will wake them?
No one ever will.
No one ever told them
That a summer day can kill.
They were schoolboys
Never held a gun...
Fighting for a new world
That would rise up like the sun.
Where's that new world now the fighting's done?
Nothing changes.
Nothing ever will.
Every year another brat, another mouth to fill.
Same old story. What's the use of tears?
What's the use of praying if there's nobody who hears?
Turning, turning, turning, turning, turning
Through the years.
Minutes into hours and the hours into years.
Nothing changes. Nothing ever can
Round about the roundabout and back where you began.
Round and round and back where you began!
Add your song meanings, interpretations, facts, memories & more to the community.
Wow! No interpretations for this? Ok, I'll start this off!
Meaning? Hopelessness. The hopelessness of the cycle of life and death. These women, mothers, sisters, daughters, friends, gave their hearts to these young men and now they're gone. And they always leave. Always. It's a mourning song and they realize that nothing is ever going to change. You live, you love, and then they die. They always leave and die.
I'm surprised that this melody is never shared with Fantine because she's one of the people in the show who would know the most about this. Her lover left her with a child to care for.
TL;DR It's sad.