Ça Ira

"Ça ira" (; French for "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 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 player) of the . Queen Marie Antoinette herself is said to have often played the music on her harpsichord.

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. When asked about the American Revolutionary War, 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 of 1790 and eventually became recognized as an unofficial anthem of revolutionaries.

Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine The people on this day repeat over and over, Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine In spite of the mutineers everything shall succeed.

Our enemies, confounded, stay petrified And we shall sing Hallelujah Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine When Boileau spoke of the clergy Like a prophet he predicted this. By singing my little song With pleasure, people shall say, Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine.

According to the precepts of the Gospel Of the lawmaker everything shall be accomplished He who exalts himself shall be humbled He who is humble shall be exalted The true catechism shall instruct us And the awful fanaticism shall be snuffed out. At being obedient to Law Every Frenchman shall train Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine.

Pierrette and Margot sing the guinguette Let us rejoice, good times will come ! The French people used to keep silent, The aristocrat says, "Mea culpa!" The clergy regrets its wealth, Through justice, the nation will have it. Thanks to the careful Lafayette, Everyone will calm down.

Ah! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine By the torches of the august assembly, Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine An armed people will always take care of themselves. We'll know right from wrong, The citizen will support the Good.

Ah ! It'll be fine, It'll be fine, It'll be fine When the aristocrat shall protest, The good citizen will laugh in his face, Without troubling his soul, And will always be the stronger.

Small ones and great ones all have the soul of a soldier, During war none shall betray. With heart all good French people will fight, If he sees something fishy he shall speak with courage. Lafayette says "come if you will!" Without fear for fire or flame, The French always shall win!

Sans-culotte version 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.

Source 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. It was forbidden in 1797 under the Directory.

The ship of the line La Couronne was renamed Ça Ira in 1792 in reference to this song.

At the 1793 Battle of Famars, the 14th Regiment of Foot (infantry), the West Yorkshire Regiment, 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.

Friedrich Witt cited this motif in the finale of his Symphony No. 16 in A major; although the year of its completion is unknown, it is clear that it was written in the 1790s.

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 ''."

Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used both "" and La Carmagnole in the finale of his 1923 Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor Revolutionary.

Modern adaptations An alternative "sans-culotte"-like version was sung by Édith Piaf for the soundtrack of the film Royal Affairs in Versailles (Si Versailles m'était conté) (1954) by Sacha Guitry.

The song is featured in the 1999 television series The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Richard E. Grant. 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's 2023 film Napoleon.

In an opening scene of the novel What Is to Be Done? 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. 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 in his translation.Nikolay Chernyshevsky, Que faire, translated by A.T. (1875), page 5. Nikolay Chernyshevsky, What's to be done? A romance, translated by Benjamin R. Tucker (1884–86, 4th edition 1909), page 8. Nikolay Chernyshevsky, A vital question; or, What is to be done?, translated by Nathan Haskell Dole and Simon S. Skidelsky (1886), page 4 gives an English translation of the original paraphrase.

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, played a version of the song. Officially named "Mea Culpa (Ah! Ça ira!)", their performance took place from the windows of the Conciergerie. This rendition of "Ça ira" went on to win the award for Best Metal Performance at the 67th Grammy Awards. They once again performed the song at the 2025 concert Back to the Beginning in Birmingham, England.

Ça Ira

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