"Ein bißchen Freude (Rest and Recreation)" is a song in the stage musical version of The Hunchback of Notre Dame. In this song, it introduces Phoebus. Like the movie, Phoebus has been relieved of military duty and has been promoted to Captain of the Guard. Unlike the Disney movie, Phoebus here acts more like he does in the book (though still a more sympathetic character here than in the book).
He wants to indulge in vices and have lots of “wine, women and song” and a bit of joy. He also flirts with a random girl during the course of the song.
Notably, unlike in the Disney film proper, some of the gory details of Phoebus' time off in the war are described at one point in the song, and it is made apparent that Phoebus is privately haunted by the scenes of carnage and senseless violence that he saw, noting during the song that he will never go back no matter what (in modern terminology, he is suffering from "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder").
Musically the song uses "Phoebus’ Leitmotif" from Disney (the march music heard when Phoebus is first introduced).
Lyrics[]
Phoebus:
Four years at the front
Gives a man a zest
For a little rest
And recreation
For the chance to hunt
For the spiciest
In the way of rest
And recreation
Give me your girls of pleasure
Your grapes of merlot
Show me your wares and measure
One large sample
Sample 'em at my leisure
This three-day furlough
Should be ample
Monique:
Come on, Colette.
Colette:
Wa-wa-wait! What do those stripes mean?
Phoebus:
Captain.
Colette:
Captain?!
Phoebus:
Darling, to be blunt
You are with the best
That's why I've been blessed
With this promotion
I've been working hard
Now I'm gonna be
Captain of the Guard
Ain't that a notion?
Like other true knights
I've got ambition
But for a few nights
Fun is my mission
So what do you say?
Care to share a day
Of rest and recreation!
Phoebus:
Four years at the front
Give a man a zest
For a little rest
And recreation
For the chance to hunt
For the spiciest
In the way of rest
And recreation
Give me your girls of pleasure
Your grapes of merlot
Show me your wares and measure
One large sample
Sample 'em at my leisure
This three-day furlough
Should be ample
I have borne the brunt
Of a soldier's test
Now I've made my way
Where I get to play
At rest and recrea-
Four years at the front
Four years at the front
Soldiers' Voices:
Cannon fodder lying in the field below the castle
Is this the third week or the fourth week of the siege?
The air filled with the stench
Of bodies in a trench
Whoever pays the most I call "my liege"
Summoned here to Paris now, I'm far away from battle
From clotting blood and rotting wounds of dead and dying men
Phoebus & Soldiers' Voices:
And whatever I do
I'll make sure this is true
Phoebus:
I will never go back again!
Darling, to be blunt
You are with the best
That's why I've been blessed
With this promotion
I've been working hard
Now I'm gonna be
Captain of the Guard
Ain't that a notion?
Like other true knights
I've got ambition
But for a few nights
Fun is my mission
So what do you say?
Care to share a day
Of rest and recreation!
Frollo:
Captain! Welcome to the Cathedral Guard!
Phoebus:
I'm grateful for the opportunity to serve you, my lord.
Frollo:
Your early arrival is most auspicious. The pestilence of these gypsies grows more dangerous every day.
Captain you and I
Have a task we share
Stopping them and their proliferation
Paris looks to us
Phoebus:
To us!
Frollo:
To rid her streets of crime
Phoebus:
To rid her streets of crime!
Frollo:
This is war and thus
Frollo & Phoebus:
There is no time
For rest and recreation!
