Ça Ira
The music is a popular contredanse air called "Le carillon national", and was composed by Jean-Antoine Bécourt [fr], a violinist (according to other sources: side drum player) of the théâtre Beaujolais.
[2] The title and theme of the refrain were inspired by Benjamin Franklin, who was very popular among the French people following his stay as a representative of the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1785.
[3] The song first became popular as a worksong during the preparation for the Fête de la Fédération of 1790 and eventually became recognized as an unofficial anthem of revolutionaries.
Nos ennemis confus en restent là Et nous allons chanter « Alléluia !
En chantant ma chansonnette Avec plaisir on dira : Ah !
Suivant les maximes de l'évangile Du législateur tout s'accomplira.
Le vrai catéchisme nous instruira Et l'affreux fanatisme s'éteindra.
Pour être à la loi docile Tout Français s'exercera.
Pierrette et Margot chantent la guinguette Réjouissons-nous, le bon temps viendra !
Le peuple français jadis à quia, L'aristocrate dit : « Mea culpa !
Petits comme grands sont soldats dans l'âme, Pendant la guerre aucun ne trahira.
Avec cœur tout bon Français combattra, S'il voit du louche, hardiment parlera.
With heart all good French people will fight, If he sees something fishy he shall speak with courage.
At later stages of the revolution, many sans-culottes used several much more aggressive stanzas, calling for the lynching of the nobility and the clergy.
Et quand on les aura tous pendus On leur fichera la paille au cul, Imbibée de pétrole, vive le son, vive le son, Imbibée de pétrole, vive le son du canon.
The ship of the line La Couronne was renamed Ça Ira in 1792 in reference to this song.
Carl Schurz, in volume 1, chapter 14, of his Reminiscences, reported from exile in England that upon Napoleon III's 1851 French coup d'état, "Our French friends shouted and shrieked and gesticulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and cursed his helpers, and danced the Carmagnole and sang 'Ça ira'."
Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used both "Ça ira" and La Carmagnole in the finale of his Symphony No.
The song is featured in the 1999 television series The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Richard E. Grant.
The Edith Piaf version is featured in the opening scenes of Ridley Scott's 2023 film Napoleon.
by Nikolay Chernyshevsky, the protagonist Vera Pavlovna is shown singing a song with ça ira in the refrain, accompanied by a paraphrase outlining the struggle for a socialist utopian future.
[6] The 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France, was titled Ça Ira.
As part of the ceremony, heavy metal band Gojira, alongside French-Swiss mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti [fr], played a version of the song.
)", their performance took place from the windows of the Conciergerie and included depictions of a decapitated Marie Antoinette.
