Ca Ira: Opera in Three Acts: The Grievances of the People - Roger Waters

RINGMASTER

The sparrow, bedraggled, looks up through the rain

And dreams of a little more grain

The peacock, plump in his place in the sun

Ignores the sound of the distant guns

Their thunder falls upon deaf ears

The peacock never sniffs the air

He fails to see that a starvation diet brings

The scent of riot on the breeze

The King;

The State;

La France

Each of the above must with regret cut off all payment

The cupboard is bare

The State of France lies in disrepair

REVOLUTIONARY PRIEST

The Bishops hide the grain;

to the attics it’s sent

If everyone is hungry, tell me, who can be content?

SOLO BOY

Altogether now!

CHILDREN’S CHORUS

We hand out pamphlets, we join a club

We shout out slogans that we make up

We thumb our noses, at those above

We hand out pamphlets, we join a club

TROUBLEMAKER

We join a club, a safety net

But it’s more like a gin trap that’s been carefully set

REVOLUTIONARY PRIEST

We write what we can on the cow’s flayed hide

Our grievances are noted and then brushed to one side

But the pain we feel keeps us alive

TROUBLEMAKER

Bushes and bones and sticks and stones

Now, then, women and men

REVOLUTIONARY PRIEST

In Manosque the bishops get what they deserve

Stoned to death and we retrieve the grain from their reserves

FEMALE CHORUS

We plunder all the bakeries

Searching for our courage in…

MALE CHORUS

Searching for our courage in…

REVOLUTIONARY PRIEST

Searching for our courage in…

RINGMASTER & MARIE MARIANNE

…this folly