The Hunchback Of Notre Dame Lyrics

The Bells Of Notre Dame

Clopin 
Morning in Paris, the city awakes
To the bells of Notre Dame
The fisherman fishes, the bakerman bakes
To the bells of Notre Dame
To the big bells as loud as the thunder
To the little bells soft as a psalm
And some say the soul of the city's
The toll of the bells
The bells of Notre Dame

Listen, they're beautiful, no?
So many colors of sound, so many changing moods
Because you know, they don't ring all by themselves
Puppet
They don't?
Clopin 
No, silly boy.
Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower
lives the mysterious bell ringer.
Who is this creature 
Puppet
Who?
Clopin 
What is he? 
Puppet
What?
Clopin 
How did he come to be there 
Puppet
How?
Clopin 
Hush, and Clopin will tell you
It is a tale, a tale of a man and a monster.


Dark was the night when our tale was begun
On the docks near Notre Dame


Man #1 
Shup it up, will you!

Man #2 
We'll be spotted!

Gypsy 
Hush, little one.

Clopin 
Four frightened gypsies slid silently under
The docks near Notre Dame

Man #3 
Four guilders for safe passage into Paris

Clopin 
But a trap had been laid for the gypsies
And they gazed up in fear and alarm
At a figure whose clutches
Were iron as much as the bells

Man #4 
Judge Claude Frollo

Clopin 
The bells of Notre Dame

Chorus 
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Clopin 
Judge Claude Frollo longed
To purge the world
Of vice and sin

Chorus 
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Clopin 
And he saw corruption
Ev'rywhere
Except within

Frollo 
Bring these gypsy vermin to the palace of justice

Guard 
You there, what are you hiding?

Frollo 
Stolen goods, no doubt. Take them from her

Clopin 
She ran

Chorus 
Dies irae, dies illa (Day of wrath, that day)
Solvet saeclum in favilla (Shall consume the world in ashes)
Teste David cum sibylla (As prophesied by David and the sibyl)
Quantus tremor est futurus (What trembling is to be)
Quando Judex est venturus (When the Judge is come)

Gypsy 
Sanctuary, please give us sanctuary

Frollo I>
A baby? A monster!

Archdeacon 
Stop!

Clopin 
Cried the Archdeacon

Frollo 
This is an unholy deamon.
I'm sending it back to hell, where it belongs.

Archdeacon  
See there the innocent blood you have spilt
On the steps of Notre Dame

Frollo 
I am guiltless. She ran, I pursued.

Archdeacon  
Now you would add this child's blood to your guilt
On the steps of Notre Dame

Frollo 
My conscience is clear

Archdeacon  
You can lie to yourself and your minions
You can claim that you haven't a qualm
But you never can run from
Nor hide what you've done from the eyes
The very eyes of Notre Dame

Chorus 
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Clopin 
And for one time in his live
Of power and control

Chorus 
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Clopin 
Frollo felt a twinge of fear
For his immortal soul

Frollo 
What must I do?

Archdeacon 
Care for the child, and raise it as your own

Frollo 
What? I'd be settled with this misshapen ...?
Very well. Let him live with you, in your church.

Archdeacon  
Live here? Where?

Frollo 
Anywhere
Just so he's kept locked away
Where no one else can see
The bell tower, perhaps
And who knows, our Lord works in mysterious ways
Even this foul creature may
Yet prove one day to be
Of use to me

Clopin 
And Frollo gave the child a cruel name
A name that means half-formed, Quasimodo
Now here is a riddle to guess if you can
Sing the bells of Notre Dame
Who is the monster and who is the man?

Clopin and Chorus 
Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells, bells, bells, bells
Bells of Notre Dame


back

Frollo 
The world is cruel
The world is wicked
It's I alone whom you can trust in this whole city
I am your only friend
I who keep you, teach you, feed you, dress you
I who look upon you without fear
How can I protect you, boy, unless you
Always stay in here
Away in here
Remember what I taught you, Quasimodo
You are deformed

Quasimodo 
I am deformed

Frollo 
And you are ugly

Quasimodo 
And I am ugly

Frollo 
And these are crimes
For which the world
Shows little pity
You do not comprehend

Quasimodo  
You are my one defender

Frollo 
Out there they'll revile you
As a monster

Quasimodo  
I am a monster

Frollo 
Out there they will hate
And scorn and jeer

Quasimodo  
Only a monster

Frollo 
Why invite their calumny
And consternation?
Stay in here
Be faithful to me

Quasimodo  
I'm faithful

Frollo  
Grateful to me

Quasimodo  
I'm grateful

Frollo 
Do as I say
Obey
And stay
In here

Quasimodo  
I'll stay
In here

Quasimodo  
Safe behind these windows and these parapets of stone
Gazing at the people down below me
All my life I watch them as I hide up here alone
Hungry for the histories they show me
All my life I memorize their faces
Knowing them as they will never know me
All my life I wonder how it feels to pass a day
Not above them
But part of them

And out there
Living in the sun
Give me one day out there
All I ask is one
To hold forever


Out there
Where they all live unaware
What I'd give
What I'd dare
Just to live one day out there


Out there among the millers and the weavers and their wives
Through the roofs and gables I can see them
Ev'ry day they shout and scold and go about their lives
Heedless of the gift it is to be them
If I was in their skin
I'd treasure ev'ry instant


Out there
Strolling by the Seine
Taste a morning out there
Like ordinary men
Who freely walk about there
Just one day and then
I swear I'll be content
With my share
Won't resent
Won't despair
Old and bent
I won't care
I'll have spent
One day
Out there


back

Crowd 
Come one, come all!
Leave your loops and milking stools
Coop the hens and pen the mules
Come one, come all!
Close the churches and the schools
It's the day for breaking rules
Come and join the feast of ...

Clopin 
Fools!

Once a year we throw a party here in town
Once a year we turn all Paris upside down
Ev'ry man's a king and ev'ry king's a clown
Once again it's Topsy Turvy Day
It's the day the devil in us gets released
It's the day we mock the prig and shock the priest
Ev'rything is topsy turvy at the Feast of Fools!


Crowd 
Topsy turvy!

Clopin 
Ev'rything is upsy daysy!

Crowd 
Topsy turvy!

Clopin 
Ev'ryone is acting crazy
Dross is gold and weeds are a bouquet
That's the way on Topsy Turvy Day

All 
Topsy Turvy!

Clopin and Crowd 
Beat the drums and blow the trumpets

All 
Topsy Turvy!

Clopin and Crowd 
Join the bums and thieves and strumpets
Streaming in from Chartres to Calais

Clopin 
Scurvy knaves are extra scurvy
On the sixth of "Januervy"

Clopin and Crowd 
All because it's Topsy Turvy Day!

Clopin 
Come one, come all!
Hurry, hurry, here's your chance
See the myst'ry and romance
Come one, come all
See the finest girl in France
Make an entrance to entrance
Dance la Esmeralda
Dance!

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for
Here it is, you know exactly what's in store
Now's the time we laugh until our sides get sore
Now's the time we crown the King of Fools!
So make a face that's horrible and frightening
Make a face as gruesome as a gargoyle's wing
For the face that's ugliest will be the King of Fools!
Why?


Crowd  
Topsy turvy!

Clopin 
Ugly folk, forget your shyness

Crowd  
Topsy turvy!

Clopin 
You could soon be called Your Highness!

Crowd 
Put your foulest features on display
Be the king of Topsy Turvy Day!

Clopin 
Ev'rybody!

Crowd 
Once a year we throw a party here in town

Clopin 
Hail to the king!

Crowd 
Once a year we turn all Paris upside down

Clopin 
Oh, what a king!

Crowd 
Once a year, the ugliest will wear a crown

Clopin 
Girls, give a kiss

Crowd  
Once a year on Topsy Turvy Day

Clopin 
We've never had a king like this

Clopin and Crowd 
And it's the day we do the things that we deplore
On the other three hundred and sixty-four
Once a year we love to drop in
Where the beer is never stoppin
For the chance to pop some popinjay
And pick a king who'll put the "top" in
Topsy Turvy Day!
Mad and crazy, upsy-daisy, Topsy Turvy Day!




back

Esmeralda 
I don't know if You can hear me
Or if You're even there
I don't know if You would listen
To a gypsy's prayer
Yes, I know I'm just an outcast
I shouldn't speak to you
Still I see Your face and wonder
Were You once an outcast too?

God help the outcasts
Hungry from birth
Show them the mercy
They don't find on earth
God help my people
We look to You still
God help the outcasts
Or nobody will


Parishioners 
I ask for wealth
I ask for fame
I ask for glory to shine on my name
I ask for love I can posess
I ask for God and His angels to bless me

Esmeralda 
I ask for nothing
I can get by
But I know so many
Less lucky than I
Please help my people
The poor and downtrod
I thought we all were
The children of God
God help the outcasts
Children of God



back

Priests 
Confiteor Deo Omnipotenti (I confess to God almighty)
Beatae Mariae semper Virgini (To blessed Mary ever Virgin)
Beato Michaeli archangelo (To the blessed archangel Michael)
Sanctis apostolis omnibus sanctis (To the holy apostles, to all the saints)

Frollo 
Beata Maria
You know I am a righteous man
Of my virtue I am justly proud

Priests  
Et tibit Pater (And to you, Father)

Frollo 
Beata Maria
You know I'm so much purer than
The common, vulgar, weak, licentious crowd

Priests 
Quia peccavi nimis (That I have sinned)

Frollo 
Then tell me, Maria
Why I see her dancing there
Why her smold'ring eyes still scorch my soul

Priests  
Cogitatione (In thought)

Frollo 
I feel her, I see her
The sun caught in raven hair
Is blazing in me out of all control

Priests  
Verbo et opere (In word and deed)

Frollo 
Like fire
Hellfire
This fire in my skin
This burning
Desire
Is turning me to sin

It's not my fault


Priests  
Mea culpa (Through my fault)

Frollo 
I'm not to blame

Priests  
Mea culpa (Through my fault)

Frollo 
It is the gypsy girl
The witch who sent this flame

Priests  
Mea maxima culpa (Through my most griveous fault)

Frollo 
It's not my fault

Priests  
Mea culpa (Through my fault)

Frollo 
If in God's plan

Priests  
Mea culpa (Through my fault)

Frollo 
He made the devil so much
Stronger than a man

Priests  
Mea maxima culpa (Through my most griveous fault)

Frollo 
Protect me, Maria
Don't let this siren cast her spell
Don't let her fire sear my flesh and bone
Destroy Esmeralda
And let her taste the fires of hell
Or else let her be mine and mine alone

Guard 
Minister Frollo, the gypsy has escaped

Frollo 
What?

Guard 
No longer in the cathedral. She's gone

Frollo 
But how? Never mind. Get out, you idiot
I'll find her. I'll find her if I have to burn down all of Paris

Hellfire
Dark fire
Now gypsy, it's your turn
Choose me or
Your pyre
Be mine or you will burn


Priests  
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Frollo 
God have mercy on her

Priests  
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Frollo  
God have mercy on me

Priests  
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)

Frollo  
But she will be mine
Or she will burn!



back

Hugo 
Paris, the city of lovers
Is glowing this evening
True, that's because it's on fire
But still, there's "l'amour"
Somewhere out there in the night
Her Heart is also alight
And I know the guy she just might
Be burning for

A guy like you
She's never known, kid
A guy like you
A girl does not meet ev'ry day
You've got a look
That's all your own, kid
Could there be two?


Victor and Laverne 
Like you?

All Three 
No way!

Hugo  
Those other guys
That she could dangle
All look the same
From ev'ry boring point of view
You're a surprise
From ev'ry angle
Mon Dieu above
She's gotta love
A guy like you

Victor 
A guy like you
Gets extra credit
Because it's true
You've got a certain some thing more

Hugo  
You're aces, kid

Laverne 
You see that face
You don't forget it

Victor and Laverne 
Want something new?

Hugo  
That's you

All Three 
For sure!

Laverne 
We all have gaped
At some Adonis

Victor 
But then we crave a meal
More nourishing to chew

Hugo  
And since you've shaped
Like a croissant is

All Three 
No question of
She's gotta love
A guy like you!

Laverne 
Call me a hopeless romatic
But Quasi, I feel it

Victor 
She wants you so
Any moment she'll walk through that door

All Three 
For

Hugo  
A guy so swell

Victor and Laverne 
A guy like you

Hugo  
With all you bring her

Victor and Laverne 
I tell you Quasi

Hugo  
A fool could tell

Victor and Laverne 
There never was

Hugo  
It's why she fell

Victor and Laverne 
Another, was he?

Hugo  
For you-know-who

Victor and Laverne 
From king to serf
To the bourgeoisie

Hugo  
You ring the bell

Victor and Laverne 
They're all a second-stringer

All Three 
You're the bell ringer!
When she wants oo-la-la
Then she wants you la-la
She will discover, guy
You're one heckuva guy
Who wouldn't love a guy
Like you?

Hugo  
You got a lot
The rest have not
So she's gotta love
A guy like you!


back

Clopin and Gypsies 
Maybe you've heard of a terrible place
Where the soundrels of Paris
Collect in a lair

Maybe you've heard of that mythical place
Called the Court of Miracles
Hello, you're there!
Where the lame can walk
And the blind can see
But the dead don't talk
So you won't be around
To reveal what you've found
We have a method for spies and intruders
Rather like hornets protecting their hive
Here in the Court of Miracles
Where it's a miracle if you get out alive!


Clopin 
Justice is swift in the Court of Miracles
I am the lawyers and judge all in one
We like to get the trial over with quickly
Because it's the sentence that's really the fun!

Now that we've seen all the evicence


Puppet
Wait! I object!

Clopin 
Overruled!

Puppet
I object!

Clopin 
Quiet!

Puppet
Dang!

Clopin 
We find you totally innocent
Which is the worst crime of all

All 
So you're going to hang!




back

back