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

[FANTINE]

[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!