Empty Chairs At Empty Tables

Track 29 on Les Misérables (Original 1985 London Cast Recording)

Producers

After the battle, a recovering Marius revisits the ABC Cafe and grieves for his friends who died in battle. He pictures them at the tables and chairs where they sat and… Mehr lesen

19851 viewer65.3K views

Empty Chairs At Empty Tables Lyrics

[MARIUS sits alone in the ABC Café.]

[MARIUS]
There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on
Empty chairs at empty tables
Now my friends are dead and gone

Here they talked of revolution
Here it was they lit the flame
Here they sang about "tomorrow"
And tomorrow never came

From the table in the corner
They could see a world reborn
And they rose with voices ringing
And I can hear them now
The very words that they had sung
Became their last communion
On the lonely barricade at dawn

[The ghosts of those who died on the barricade appear.]

Oh my friends, my friends, forgive me
That I live and you are gone
There's a grief that can't be spoken
There's a pain goes on and on

See Michael Ball Live

Get tickets as low as $88

Phantom faces at the window
Phantom shadows on the floor
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will meet no more

Oh my friends, my friends, don't ask me
What your sacrifice was for
Empty chairs at empty tables
Where my friends will sing no more

Embed

Über uns

After the battle, a recovering Marius revisits the ABC Cafe and grieves for his friends who died in battle. He pictures them at the tables and chairs where they sat and shared their revolutionary ideas and mourns because all his friends are dead.

This song was not in the original French concept album, but was added to the English production to give Marius and the audience a cathartic moment to process the tragedy that has unfolded throughout the show’s second act.