The Darkest Night

The original Broadway cast (1987) during the Finale.

I thought it might be a good idea to explain the name I use here - The Darkest Night, a name I seem to be using more and more online. It will probably be pretty obvious to most Les Miz fans anyway, but I still want to use this blog entry for the topic of The Darkest Night.

I picked it out a while back from my favourite Les Misérables quote - Even the darkest night will end and the sun will rise. I really love the hopeful meaning of it, and how true it really is. Just like the sun will always rise in the morning, replacing the darkness of the night, we can trust that no matter how bad things are, they will get better. The sun will rise!

The quote is from the Finale of Les Misérables, sung by the entire ensemble, and usually VERY powerful. This part (which is the last part of the song), is a version of Do You Hear the People Sing? (I love that song btw - you can be sure it will be mentioned again here), and it is sung when the dead students join the rest of the ensemble on stage. I personally think it’s extremely sad when they are shot, but through this little song they get to live on.

Do you hear the people sing
Lost in the valley of the night?
It is the music of a people
Who are climbing to the light.
For the wretched of the earth
There is a flame that never dies.
Even the darkest night will end
And the sun will rise.

There is such power in this song, and a wonderful message of hope! The last few songs of the musical are really sad (with the exception of Beggars at the Feast), so I really like that they use this song to end on a more hopeful note. Even though the students were all killed (except Marius), the people haven’t given up.

The rest of the song continues on the same theme of hope and power, with amazing lines like They will live again in freedom in the garden of the Lord and Somewhere beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?.

This song is among my big favourites in Les Misérables, and an amazing way to end a wonderful musical.