Ça Ira (; French: "It'll be fine") is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeated in poetry or in music">poetry.html" ;"title="Line (poetry)">line or lines that are repeat ...

Original version

The original words "" were written by Ladré, a former soldier who made a living as a street singer. The music is a popular contredanse air called "Le carillon national", and was composed by , a violinist (according to other sources:

side drum The snare drum (or side drum) is a percussion instrument that produces a sharp staccato sound when the head is struck with a drum stick, due to the use of a series of stiff wires held under tension against the lower skin. Snare drums are often ...

player) of the théâtre Beaujolais. Queen

Marie Antoinette Marie Antoinette (; ; Maria Antonia Josefa Johanna; 2 November 1755 – 16 October 1793) was the last List of French royal consorts, queen of France before the French Revolution and the establishment of the French First Republic. She was the ...

herself is said to have often played the music on her

harpsichord A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a musical keyboard, keyboard. Depressing a key raises its back end within the instrument, which in turn raises a mechanism with a small plectrum made from quill or plastic that plucks one ...

. The title and theme of the refrain were inspired by

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, who was very popular among the French people following his stay as a representative of the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

from 1776 to 1785. When asked about the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

, he would reportedly reply, in somewhat broken French, "" ("It'll be fine, it'll be fine"). The song first became popular as a worksong during the preparation for the

Fête de la Fédération The (; ) was a massive holiday festival held throughout Kingdom of France, France in 1790 in honour of the French Revolution, celebrating the Revolution itself, as well as national unity. It commemorated the revolution and events of 1789 which ...

of 1790 and eventually became recognized as an unofficial anthem of revolutionaries.

Sans-culotte version

At later stages of the revolution, many

sans-culottes The (; ) were the working class, common people of the social class in France, lower classes in late 18th-century history of France, France, a great many of whom became radical and militant partisans of the French Revolution in response to their ...

used several much more aggressive stanzas, calling for the lynching of the

nobility Nobility is a social class found in many societies that have an aristocracy. It is normally appointed by and ranked immediately below royalty. Nobility has often been an estate of the realm with many exclusive functions and characteristics. T ...

and the clergy. Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates à la lanterne! Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates on les pendra! Si on n' les pend pas On les rompra Si on n' les rompt pas On les brûlera. Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates à la lanterne! Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates on les pendra! Nous n'avions plus ni nobles, ni prêtres, Ah ! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira, L'égalité partout régnera. L'esclave autrichien le suivra, Ah ! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira, Et leur infernale clique Au diable s'envolera. Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates à la lanterne! Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira les aristocrates on les pendra! 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. Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine aristocrats to the lamp-post Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine the aristocrats, we'll hang them! If we don't hang them We'll break them If we don't break them We'll burn them Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine aristocrats to the lamp-post Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine the aristocrats, we'll hang them! We shall have no more nobles nor priests Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine Equality will reign everywhere The Austrian slave shall follow him Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine And their infernal clique Shall go to the devil Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine aristocrats to the lamp-post Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine the aristocrats, we'll hang them! And when we'll have hung them all We'll stick straw up their arse, Soaked in oil, long live the sound, long live the sound, Soaked in oil, long live the sound of the canon.

Post-revolutionary use

The song survived past the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

. It was forbidden in 1797 under the Directory. The

ship of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactics in the Age of Sail, naval tactic known as the line of battl ...

''La Couronne'' was renamed ''

Ça Ira Ça Ira (; French: "It'll be fine") is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain. Original version The original word ...

'' in 1792 in reference to this song. At the 1793

Battle of Famars The Battle of Famars was fought on 23 May 1793 during the Flanders Campaign of the War of the First Coalition. An Allied Austrian, Hanoverian, and British army under Prince Josias of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld defeated the French Army of the North l ...

, the 14th Regiment of Foot, the

West Yorkshire Regiment The West Yorkshire Regiment (Prince of Wales's Own) (14th Foot) was an infantry regiment of the British Army. In 1958 it amalgamated with the East Yorkshire Regiment (15th Foot) to form the Prince of Wales's Own Regiment of Yorkshire which was ...

, attacked the French to the music of "" (the colonel commenting that he would "beat the French to their own damned tune"). The regiment was later awarded the tune as a battle honour and regimental quick march. It has since been adopted by the

Yorkshire Regiment The Royal Yorkshire Regiment (14th/15th, 19th and 33rd/76th Foot) (abbreviated R YORKS) is an infantry regiment of the British Army, created by the amalgamation of three historic regiments in 2006. It lost one battalion as part of the Future of ...

Friedrich Witt Friedrich Jeremias Witt (8 November 1770 – 3 January 1836) was a German composer and cellist. He is perhaps best known as the likely author of a Symphony in C major known as the Jena Symphony, once attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven. Biography ...

cited this motif in the Finale of his

Symphony A symphony is an extended musical composition in Western classical music, most often for orchestra. Although the term has had many meanings from its origins in the ancient Greek era, by the late 18th century the word had taken on the meaning c ...

no. 16 in

A major A major is a major scale based on A, with the pitches A, B, C, D, E, F, and G. Its key signature has three sharps. Its relative minor is F-sharp minor and its parallel minor is A minor. The A major scale is: Changes needed for the ...

. Although the year of its completion is unknown, it's clear that it was written in the 1790s.

Carl Schurz Carl Christian Schurz (; March 2, 1829 – May 14, 1906) was a German-American revolutionary and an American statesman, journalist, and reformer. He migrated to the United States after the German revolutions of 1848–1849 and became a prominent ...

, in volume 1, chapter 14, of his ''Reminiscences'', reported from exile in England that upon

Napoleon III Napoleon III (Charles-Louis Napoléon Bonaparte; 20 April 18089 January 1873) was President of France from 1848 to 1852 and then Emperor of the French from 1852 until his deposition in 1870. He was the first president, second emperor, and last ...

1851 French coup d'état The coup d'état of 2 December 1851 was a self-coup staged by Louis-Napoléon Bonaparte (later Napoleon III), at the time President of France under the Second Republic. Code-named Operation Rubicon and timed to coincide with the anniversary of ...

, "Our French friends shouted and shrieked and gesticulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and cursed his helpers, and danced the

Carmagnole "La Carmagnole" is a French song created and made popular during the French Revolution, accompanied by a wild dance of the same name that may have also been brought into France by the Piedmontese. It was first sung in August 1792 and was succes ...

and sang ''." Russian composer

Nikolai Myaskovsky Nikolai Yakovlevich Myaskovsky (; ; 20 April 18818 August 1950), was a Russian and Soviet composer. He is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Soviet Symphony". Myaskovsky was awarded the Stalin Prize five times. Early years Myaskovsky ...

used both "" and ''La Carmagnole'' in the finale of his Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor ''Revolutionary''.

Modern adaptations

An alternative "sans-culotte"-like version was sung by

Édith Piaf Édith Giovanna Gassion (19 December 1915 – 10 October 1963), known as Édith Piaf (), was a French singer and lyricist best known for performing songs in the cabaret and modern chanson genres. She is widely regarded as France's greatest popu ...

for the soundtrack of the film ''

Royal Affairs in Versailles ''Royal Affairs in Versailles'' (French title: ''Si Versailles m'était conté'') is a 1954 French-Italian historical drama directed by Sacha Guitry. Described as "a historical film showing Versailles from its beginnings to the present day", it t ...

'' (''Si Versailles m'était conté'') (1954) by

Sacha Guitry Alexandre-Pierre Georges "Sacha" Guitry (; 21 February 188524 July 1957) was a French stage actor, film actor, director, screenwriter, and playwright of the boulevard theatre (aesthetic), boulevard theatre. He was the son of a leading French ac ...

. The song is featured in the 1999 television series ''

The Scarlet Pimpernel ''The Scarlet Pimpernel'' is the first novel in a series of historical fiction by Baroness Orczy, published in 1905. It was written after her stage play of the same title (co-authored with her husband Montague Barstow) enjoyed a long run in Lo ...

'', starring

Richard E. Grant Richard E. Grant (born Richard Grant Esterhuysen; 5 May 1957) is an Eswatini-born English actor and presenter. He made his film debut as Withnail in the comedy '' Withnail and I'' (1987). Grant received critical acclaim for his role as Jack H ...

. There the lyrics are sung in English as follows: Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira Over in France there's a revolution Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira Watch what you say or you'll lose your head Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira Pass some time, see an execution! Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira Une deux trois and you fall down dead Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira Hear the tale of Marie Antoinette-a! Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira A bloodier sight you have never seen! The Edith Piaf version is featured in the opening scenes of

Ridley Scott Sir Ridley Scott (born 30 November 1937) is an English film director and producer. He directs films in the Science fiction film, science fiction, Crime film, crime, and historical drama, historical epic genres, with an atmospheric and highly co ...

's 2023 film ''

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

''. In an opening scene of the novel '' What Is to Be Done?'' by

Nikolay Chernyshevsky Nikolay Gavrilovich Chernyshevsky ( – ) was a Russian literary and social critic, journalist, novelist, democrat, and socialist philosopher, often identified as a utopian socialist and leading theoretician of Russian nihilism and the N ...

, 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. The 1875 French translator "A.T." produced a four-stanza version on the basis of the paraphrase, which was reproduced in full by

Benjamin Tucker Benjamin Ricketson Tucker (; April 17, 1854 – June 22, 1939) was an American individualist anarchist and self-identified socialist. Tucker was the editor and publisher of the American individualist anarchist periodical ''Liberty'' (1881–19 ...

in his translation. The

2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony The Olympic Games ceremony#Opening, opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics took place on 26 July 2024 across Paris, beginning at 19:30 Central European Summer Time, CEST (17:30 Coordinated Universal Time, UTC). As mandated by the Olympic ...

in Paris, France, was titled Ça Ira. As part of the ceremony, heavy metal band

Gojira is the original Japanese name for Godzilla, a giant monster at the center of a media franchise. It may also refer to: Films *Godzilla (franchise), ''Godzilla'' franchise, known as in Japan **Godzilla (1954 film), ''Godzilla'' (1954 film), relea ...

, alongside French-Swiss mezzo-soprano

Marina Viotti Marina Viotti (born 30 April 1986) is a Swiss-French mezzo-soprano. Early life Marina Viotti was born on April 30, 1986, in Lausanne, in the canton of Vaud. A dual French-Swiss national, she is the daughter of Swiss conductor Marcello Viotti and ...

, played a version of the song. Officially named "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)", their performance took place from the windows of the

Conciergerie The Conciergerie () () is a former courthouse and prison in Paris, France, located on the west of the Île de la Cité, below the Palais de Justice. It was originally part of the former royal palace, the Palais de la Cité, which also included ...

. This rendition of "Ça Ira" went on to win the award for

Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...

at the 67th Grammy Awards.

References

External links

""
sung by Edith Piaf, 1954 (mp3) * by Gerd Semmer sung by , 1962
""
original version (mp3)

from the Modern History Sourcebook website of

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...