Song Lyrics: Hunchback of Notre Dame


The Bells of Notre Dame

Vocals: Clopin (Paul Kandel), Archdeacon (David Ogden Stiers), Frollo (Tony Jay) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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
- They don't? -
No, silly boy.
Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower
lives the mysterious bell ringer.
Who is this creature - Who? -
What is he? - What? -
How did he come to be there - How? -
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
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


Out There

Vocals: Quasimodo (Tom Hulce) and Frollo (Tony Jay)
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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


Topsy Turvy

Vocals: Clopin (Paul Kandel) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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 Topy 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!


Humiliation

Vocals: Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics adapted by Stephen Schwartz


Chorus
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Qui tollis peccata mundi (Who takes away the sins of the world)
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God)
Dona nobis pacem (Grant us peace)


God Help the Outcasts

Vocals: Esmeralda (Heidi Mollenhauer) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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


Heaven's Light

Vocals: Quasimodo (Tom Hulce)
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


Quasimodo
So many times out here
I've watched a happy pair
Of lovers walking in the night
They had a kind of glow around them
It almost looked like heaven's light

I knew I'd never know
That warm and loving glow
Though I might wish with all my might
No face as hideous as my face
Was ever meant for heaven's light

But suddenly an angel has smiled at me
And kissed my cheek without a trace of fright

I dare to dream that she
Might even care for me
And as I ring these bells tonight
My cold dark tower seems so bright
I swear it must be heaven's light


Hellfire

Vocals: Frollo (Tony Jay) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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!


A Guy Like You

Vocals: Hugo (Jason Alexander), Victor (Charles Kimbrough) and Laverne (Mary Wickes/Mary Stout)
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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!


The Court of Miracles

Vocals: Clopin (Paul Kandel) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


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!


Sanctuary

Vocals: Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics adapted by Stephen Schwartz


Judex crederis esse venturus (Our Judge we believe shall come)
In te, Domine, speravi (In You, Lord, have I trusted)
Non confundar in aeternum (Let me not be damned for eternity)
Salvum fac populum tuum (Save Your people)
Judex crederis (In our Judge we believe)
Libera me Domine (Free me, Lord)
Libera me Domine de morte aeterna (Free me, Lord, from everlasting death)
In die illa tremenda (On that terrible day)
Quando caeli movendi sunt (When the heavens shall be moved)
Caeli et terra (The heavens and earth)
Dum veneris judicare (When Though shall come to judge the world)
O, salutaris hostia (Oh Saviour, saving victim)
Quae caeli pandis ostium (Who opens the gate of heaven)
Bella premunt hostilia (Our enemies besiege us)
Da robur, fer auxilium (Give us strength, bring us aid)
Sit sempiterna gloria (May you always be praised)
Sit sempiterna gloria (May you always be praised)
Sit sempiterna gloria (May you always be praised)
Gloria, gloria semper (Glory, glory forever)
Sanctus, sanctus in excelsis (Holy, holy, in the highest)
Mors stupebit et natura (Death and nature shall be confounded)
Cum resurget creatura (When creation shall rise again)
Judicanti responsurra (To answer for judgment)
Judex ergo cum sedebit (Therefore, when the Judge will take his seat)
Nil inultum remanebit (Nothing shall remain unpunished)
Quem patronum rogaturus (To what protector shall I appeal)
Cum vix justus sit securus? (When scarcely the just man shall be secure?)
Juste Judex ultionis (Righteous Judge of vengeance)
Ante diem rationis (Before the day of reckogning)
Kyrie Eleison (Lord have mercy)


And He Shall Smite The Wicked

Vocals: Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics adapted by Stephen Schwartz


Dies irae, dies illa (Day of wrath, that day)
Solvet saeclum in favilla (Shall consume the world in ashes)
Quando Judex est venturus (When the Judge is come)
Confutatis maledictis (When the damned shall be cast down)
Flammis acribus addictis (Into the searing flames)
Voca me cum benedictis (Call me with the blessed)
Confutatis maledictis (When the damned shall be cast down)
Gere curam mei finis (Help me in my final hour)


The Bells of Notre Dame (Reprise)

Vocals: Clopin (Paul Kandel) and Chorus
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


Clopin
So here is a riddle to guess if you can
Sing the bells of Notre Dame
What makes a monster and what makes a man?
Chorus
Sing the bells, bells, bells, bells, (etc.)
Clopin
Whatever their pitch, you
Can feel them bewitch you
The rich and the ritual knells
Of the
Clopin
Bells of Notre Dame


God Help the Outcasts (Pop Version)

Vocals: Bette Midler
Music: Alan Menken
Lyrics: Stephen Schwartz


Bette Midler
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
The lost and forgotten
They look to you still
God help the outcasts
Or nobody will

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

I don't know if there's a reason
Why some are blessed, some not
Why the few You seem to favor
They fear usFlee us
Try not to see us

God help the outcasts
The tattered, the torn
Seeking an answer
To why they were born
Winds of misfortune
Have blown them about
You made the outcasts
Don't cast them out
The poor and unlucky
The weak and the odd
I thought they all were
The children of God


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Last modified: Fri Jan 30 18:09:21 1998