When the beating of your heart Echoes the beating of the drums..

Last week I watched Les Mis for the first time. I’ve heard of the story but had never seen any of the film or play productions. I will say I was impressed. I thought it was a great story.  The music is what got me. I felt it to be inspiring in many ways, and making the story that much more influential. There were many great songs, and lines in the songs that I thought were pretty powerful.  One of the lines comes from the song, “The People’s song” it is as follows:

“Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
there is a life about to start
when tomorrow comes!”

Now there are many other songs in the film that are great, but for me I felt that this was particular to their cause and struggle, and even one that maybe can be used to represent the feelings of many in our day. The fight and struggle that so many have to endure to feel a sense of security, and worth which cause a great sense of alienation in the midst of our society. We have a great history of “angry men” fighting for the cause to not be “slaves again” which we seem to admire. From the founding fathers to the civil rights movement there have always been people who need to fight for their liberty. I believe I could argue that even today there is a need to be able to fight for our liberty in a sense that when it comes to feeling apart of and the ones who have an ability to say what affects their lives.

One example that comes to mind, was during the state of Wisconsin’s attempt, and then actual passage of certain budgets in 2011, that effected so many of those apart of education, and public work, that led to a great mass of people who took to the streets, and ascended on the state house to “echo the beating drums with the feelings in their hearts.” When we lose our desire to sing the song of angry men and be participants of the political process, locally and nationally, we begin to lose our sovereignty of being able to be a truly ruled people by the people and for the people. “Will you give all you can give, So that our banner may advance because there is a life about to start when tomorrow comes?!”