Lovely Ladies Lyrics

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

SAILOR ONE
I smell women
Smell 'em in the air
Think I'll drop my anchor
In that harbor over there

SAILOR TWO
Lovely ladies
Smell 'em through the smoke
Seven days at sea
Can make you hungry for a poke

SAILOR THREE
Even stokers need a little stoke!

WOMEN
Lovely ladies
Waiting for a bite
Waiting for the customers
Who only come at night
Lovely ladies
Ready 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

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!

ALL
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!

SAILOR THREE
Lovely lady!
Fastest on the street
Wasn't there three minutes
She was back up on her feet

SAILOR ONE
Lovely lady!
What yer waiting for?
Doesn't take a lot of savvy
Just to be a whore
Come on, lady
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 ONE
A bit of skirt. She's the one sold her hair.

WHORE TWO
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 ONE
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 TWO
Make money in your sleep!

Fantine goes off with one of the sailors

WHORE ONE
That's right dearie, let him have the lot

WHORE THREE
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 kind 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!