ABC Café / Red and Black

At Notre Dame the sections are prepared
At rue de Bac they're straining at the leash
Students, workers, everyone
There's a river on the run
Like the flowing of the tide
Paris coming to our side!

The time is near
So near it's stirring the blood in their veins!
And yet, beware
Don't let the wine go to your brains!

For the army we fight is a dangerous foe
With the men and the arms that we never can match
It is easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies
But the national guard will be harder to catch
We need a sign
To rally the people, to call them to arms
To bring them in line!

(Marius, you're late)
What's wrong today?
You look as if you've seen a ghost
Some wine and say what's going on!

A ghost you say... a ghost, maybe
She was just like a ghost to me
One minute there, then she was gone!

I am agog! I am aghast!
Is Marius in love at last?
I've never heard him 'ooh' and 'aah'
You talk of battles to be won
And here he comes like Don Juan
It is better than an opera!
(Thank you, gentlemen)

It is time for us all to decide who we are
Do we fight for the right to a night at the opera now?
Have you asked of yourselves what's the price you might pay?
Is this simply a game for rich young boys to play?
The colors of the world are changing day by day

Red, the blood of angry men!
Black, the dark of ages past!
Red, a world about to dawn!
Black, the night that ends at last!

Had you been there tonight you might know how it feels
To be struck to the bone in a moment of breathless delight!
Had you been there tonight you might also have known
How the world may be changed in just one burst of light!
And what was right seems wrong
And what was wrong seems right

(Red)
I feel my soul on fire!
(Black)
My world if she's not there
(Red)
The color of desire!
(Black)
The color of despair!

Marius, you're no longer a child
I do not doubt you mean it well
But now there is a higher call
Who cares about your lonely soul
We strive toward a larger goal
Our little lives don't count at all!

Red, the blood of angry men!
Black, the dark of ages past!
Red, a world about to dawn!
Black, the night that ends at last!

Well, Courfeyrac, do we have all the guns?
Feuilly, Combeferre, our time is running short
Grantaire, put the bottle down! (Listen)
Do we have the guns we need?
Give me brandy on my breath (listen to me)
And I'll breathe 'em all to death!

Listen everybody!
General Lamarque is dead!

Lamarque is dead
Lamarque! His death is the hour of fate
The people's man
His death is the sign we await!
On his funeral day they will honor his name
With the light of rebellion ablaze in their eyes
From their candles of grief we will kindle our flame
On the tomb of Lamarque shall our barricade rise

The time is here!
Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer
Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our hearts
But a jubilant shout
They will come one and all
They will come when we call!



Credits
Writer(s): Alain Boublil, Claude-michel Schönberg
Lyrics powered by www.musixmatch.com

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