ABC Café / Red and Black (Live)

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 could match

Oh, it's 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 whine and say what's going on

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 seen him "ooh" and "aah"

You talk of battles to be won

And here he comes like Don Juan

It's 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 yourselves what's the price you might pay?

Is it simply a game for rich young boys to play?

The color of the world is 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 your world may be changed in just one burst of light

And what was right seems wrong, 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 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

Well, Courfeyrac, do we have all the guns?

Feuilly Combeferre, our time is running short

Grantaire, put that bottle down

Do we have the guns we need?

Give me brandy on my breath

And I'll breathe them all to death

At St. Antoine they're with us to a man

At Notre Dame, they're tearing up the stones

Twenty rifles good as new (Listen!)

Twenty rounds for every man (Listen to me!)

Double that in Port St. Cloud (Listen everybody!)

Seven guns in St. Martin

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

It's a rally and cry that will reach every ear

In the death of Lamarque, we will kindle the flame

They will see that the day of salvation is near

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