Last week, art was used, as it so often is, to capture the feeling of the nation. On Saturday, Feb. 22, the Internet was left buzzing after the Army Choir made a very fascinating song choice at the Governor’s Ball. While performing for President Donald Trump, who recently styled himself as a “King” on X, the army sang “Do You Hear the People Sing?” from the musical Les Miserable. The song, which is about revolution against a king, felt especially ironic seeing that only last week many Anti-Trump demonstrations took place on Presidents’ Day, with many entitled “No Kings on Presidents’ Day” or “America Has No King.” Many have seen the Army’s song choice as an intentional slight against the president, some have gone as far as to say it is a call for rebellion against his many new orders and some have simply viewed this choice as a highly humorous troll. Whatever the case, this moment has reaffirmed the use of art to discuss world events, something Les Miserable is actually quite accustomed to.
Les Mis, otherwise known as my all time favorite musical, is adapted from Victor Hugo’s 1862 novel of the same name and tells the story of The June Rebellion, or Paris Uprising. This rebellion occurred in Paris on June 5-6, 1832, but this is not the French Revolution you may be thinking of. That revolution, infamous for its theme of “off with their heads!” actually took place 43 years prior, and was less successful than one might think. After the French Revolution, the revolutionaries successfully created their desired republic, but this only lasted from 1792 to 1804, when the famous Napoleon came to power and ruled as a dictator before his defeat at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. After this defeat, the victorious allied nations put the King back on the French throne and a constitutional monarchy was created. The people of France saw themselves almost back where they began; the king’s policies included compensation to the nobles who lost their estates during the Revolution, suspending freedom of the press and excluding the middle class from elections. This sparked a new wave of smaller scale revolutions, exacerbated by economic struggles and a massive cholera epidemic, which rose to a climax when the disease claimed the life of the hero of the Napoleonic Wars and champion of the middle class: Jean Lamarque. And thus the stage was set for The June Revolution and Les Mis. Like those which came before it, The June Revolution, despite the efforts of our singing protagonists, did completely fail, garnering little public support and igniting no change in the government structure. However, the event served as a catalyst for the next major revolution in 1848, and has become a symbol of rebellion against those who are corrupt in power.
In Les Mis, many of the central protagonists of the story are schoolboys who fight at the barricades. They are young, inexperienced and frightened, but they band together to sing “Do You Hear the People Sing,” which includes the lyrics: “Do you hear the people sing/Singing the song of angry men/It is the music of a people who will not be slaves again.” Thanks to its powerful message, this song has often been used as a call to action, and as a way to bring people together, almost always used when said people are displeased. After all, it is the song of angry men.
Les Mis was used as a call to action in November of 2023, when Broadway stars, including Kelli O’Hara, Jeremy Jordan, Debra Messing, Seth Rudetsky and more, sang “Bring Him Home” from Les Mis to bring attention to the Israeli hostages kidnapped on Oct. 7. This video was a powerful statement in the face of incredibly heightened antisemitism in the wake of Oct. 7, and a call on the governments of the world to work hard to save the hostages.
A few years back in 2019, “Do You Hear the People Sing” was sung by pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, in response to legislation from the Communist Party of China attempting to assert dominance on the free territory. One of the singers said of the musical, “It is a very powerful work that everyone needs in such a time in Hong Kong. There’s a lot of violence. There’s a lot of injustice around. But this piece is about love and power and what you can do for love, for your ideals, for your ideas, so that is why we want to pass this message to everyone in Hong Kong.”
Looking at these moments, which are only the most prominent of the many times Les Mis has been used by unions and concerned citizens and artists, one cannot help but wonder what the Army Choir meant by this choice. Though some have said this song is a favorite of the president (which I find hard to believe seeing as how Les Mis is complex and deals with emotions besides just hatred), this choice seems too ironic to be nothing but coincidence. It also seems like a fascinating choice given that the president came under fire for using it at a 2016 campaign event. The co-creators of Les Mis released a statement saying they “were not asked for permission and did not authorise or endorse usage of ‘Do You Hear the People Sing?’” While going against peoples’ wishes and risking consequences seems very Trump-like, this does seem odd for the Army Choir. If they were willing to take such a risk, it must have been because they had something truly important to say, and Les Mis was the best way to make their message loud and clear.
Jenna Ledley is a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences. She can be reached at jledley@cornellsun.com.
