Out There

The world is cruel The world is wicked It's I alone who 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 (I am deformed) And you are ugly (And I am ugly) And these are crimes for which the world shows little pity You do not comprehend (You are my one defender) Out there they'll revile you as a monster (I am a monster) Out there they will hate and scorn and jeer (Only a monster) Why invite their calumny and consternation? Stay in here Be faithful to me (I'm faithful) Grateful to me (I'm grateful) Do as I say, obey, and stay in here (I'll stay in here) 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 Every 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 every 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...