ABC Café / Red & Black

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

We need a sign

To rally the people

To call them to arms

To bring them in line

Marius, wake up, 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 ah

You talk of battles to be won

And here he comes like Don Juan

It is better than an opera

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 yourself

What's the price you might pay?

Is it simply a game for a rich, young boy 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 seen her today

You might know how it feels

To be struck to the bone

In a moment of breathless delight

Had you been there today

You might also have known

How your 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, it's the color of desire

Black is 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 towards 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

Listen, everybody

General 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

With 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

With a jubilant shout

They will come one and all

They will come when we call