Adorno and The Permanent Revolution

Anarchists and the Music of the French Revolution
Author(s): C. Alexander McKinley

Source: Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Vol. 1, No. 2 (Summer 2007), pp. 1-33
Published by: Michigan State University Press
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/41887575
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Anarchists and the Music
of the French Revolution
■ C. Alexander McKinley, St. Ambrose University
imagery, iconography, and music. These images and songs would

The outlive imagery,outlive
Frenchthetherevolutionary
iconography,
era ofrevolutionary
their birth andRevolution
appear againcreated and era of music. an their extraordinarily birth These and images appear rich and again world songs in of the would visual later
in the later
revolutionary culture of the anarchist movement in France between 1880 and
1914. The anarchists sought to put the culture of the sans-culotte revolution
of the eighteenth century into the service of the proletarian revolution of the
nineteenth and twentieth. In anarchist newspapers, books, pamphlets, and
posters, the images associated with sans-culottes of 1793 would be prolifically
used. The symbols of '93, like the Phrygian cap and the sans-culotte pick, would
adorn the anarchists' propaganda. The revolutionary Marianne would appear
as an anarchist avenger. At anarchist meetings and demonstrations, "la Carma-
gnole" and "Ça Ira" would echo in the halls and streets of Paris. The anarchists,
however, did not merely ape the culture of the past century's ancestors; they
updated and modified these revolutionary working-class standards to meet the
needs of the current struggle. By writing new lyrics and placing the Revolution
in the context of their own struggle, the anarchists could disseminate their
ideology to a largely semiliterate audience in terms and contexts with which
it would already be familiar. The use of French Revolutionary popular culture
would be one the anarchists' most valuable propaganda tools.
The song culture from the Revolution, in particular, provided an important
and effective tool for propaganda. It became valuable for diffusing ideas and
building revolutionary solidarity among the largely illiterate working classes.
While the theoretical works of Kropotkin may not be accessible to all, "la
Carmagnole" could deliver a similar message as efficiently. Although the
© Journal for the Study of Radicalism, Vol. 1, No. 2, 2007, pp. 1-33. issn 1930-1189 1
2 C. Alexander McKinley
anarchists did create a good d

of which has been documente
the popular culture of the Rev
The songs of the French Rev
popular both with the anarch
turn of the century. Among
out of the Revolution, the cu
important for the anarchists,
class culture with a strong af
a number of purposes. Prima
the contemporary working c
revolutionary propaganda. Th
their utilization of the Frenc
anarchists to place themselves
tionary history. By associatin
a form of legitimacy. Third,
was the culture of people-at-
popular, violent revolution. Fi
the Revolution allowed the an
to live up to the ideals of the
most importantly, songs from
that they- and not the Repub
the Revolution. The popular m
be a valuable weapon in the a
Song Culture in French Revol
Revolutionary French politic

Dating from 1789, songs have
revolutionary movements, an
tion. While the visual arts pro
chists' efforts, songs and sing
As a result, song culture allow
to examine the cultural activi
states in her excellent cultura
the importance of song cultu
effective and easy means to p
sheets could be inexpensively
Anarchists and the Music of the French Revolution 3
then the songs could be transmitted with little difficult

capacity to read. Second, song and, more importantly, s
of participation among the militants and ordinary indivi
culture.2 Thus, the amount of singing, the kinds of song
which they were sung allow a privileged insight into the
who may otherwise not be immediately visible.
Song culture plays a crucial role in the anarchist movem
France. Gaetano Manfredonia, in his monograph on the
velops several arguments for the significance of song cul
Song culture, he argues, provides a privileged means of
tween workers and militants. Songs, through their lyrics
became a means to express political and social demand
understood. Songs played the role of a political tract, but
more easily diffused tract.3 Whether by sheet or orally,
pressed in "La Ravachol" could circulate more effortlessly
by Grave, Kropotkin, or even Pouget, whose Journal le Père
in the working-class argot. Songs served to win new conv
inforced ideas among the already convinced. Not surprisin
quently played a part in French anarchist meetings and r
and 1914. The act of singing reaffirmed the groups system
a means to publicly express ones loyalty to anarchistic id
as to express ones hostility toward the enemies of the mo
Manfredonia argues that singing among the anarchists
ing public and collective act.4 A worker or militant, who
to a revolutionary journal, speak at an anarchist demon
propagande du fait, may experience a moment of revolu
and connection through the act of collective singing. Fi
asserts that song culture contributed to the creation of t
of the young movement. The anarchists could distingui
other revolutionary movements through their own u
There is some truth to this argument. One would ne
moderate socialist Jean Jaurès singing the praise of the
the anarchists would.
But the anarchists chose to use the rich historical song culture of the French
Revolution as much as they chose to create a new, specifically anarchist culture.
As we shall see, the legacy and culture of the Revolution and of the sans-culottes
permeated anarchist song culture. One need only look at Pougets choice for
his title: La Ravachol had the subtitle- at times- of "la Nouvelle Carmagnole"
and was sung to the tune of "Ça Ira." As much as the anarchists wanted to assert
their individuality from othe

tain their historical connection
French Revolution, they were
ment. The anarchists also unde
continued to resonate with m
class still regularly sang "la M
chelle Perrots work on striking
Third Republic supplies clear o
workers from 1871 through 18
60 percent of the songs sung
The reliance of the anarchists
been a reflection of this fact.
The relevance of song cultur

French Revolution. The perio
Thermidor, Year II (27 July 1
lutionary songs in French hi
"la Carmagnole" became the
They were sung at the most i
tion of the Champs du Mars
Tuilleries, the execution of L
lic. These songs outlived the i
were sung throughout the nin
out in 1830, 1848, and at the C
Revolution but also, and as im
drove the most radical revolu
ary song culture developed in
struggles between the popula
an integral part of sans-culot
contested grounds between th
themselves as the principle m
representatives in the Conven
While the Girondins and eve
ciating it with lower base cult
embraced it primarily for th
means of definition and a coh
later among the anarchists. Si
ism. For radicals like Chaume
fraternity. Those who lived, w
sang "Ça Ira" and "la Carmagn
during demonstrations, and grimly at executions. A

so did the sans-culottes ' singing. By 1792, singing h
sans-culottes singing also helps to remind us that t
cultural as it was political and social. They underst
having different political objectives than the midd
as having a different culture. Their actions reflect
democracy and price controls as well as the celebr
and culture. After 9 Thermidor, public singing con
with sans-culotte militancy, and public singing wo
rant suspicion of previous sans-culotte activism.8
"La Marseillaise"
Of all the many songs of the French Revolution, th

resilient has been "la Marseillaise." Written - as all French school children
know- by the officer engineer and amateur musician Joseph Rouget de Lisle
in 1792 in Strasbourg, it has had a long and endearing effect on both republi-
can and revolutionary France and would become intimately associated with the
Jacobin period of the Revolution. The author of this anthem found the sans-
culotte favorites "Ça Ira" and "la Carmagnole" to be too lowbrow and unbecom-
ing for soldiers of the republic. With its binary and Manichean nature, pitting
the sons of liberty against the assembled tyrannical enemies, "la Marseillaise"
simultaneously raises the flags of both revolution and nationalist militarism.9
The enemies of the Revolution and its republic are both the forces of reaction
and tyranny as well as the foreign armies threatening at the borders. One heard
verses of "la Marseillaise" at the victory at Savoy as well as during the attack on
the Tuillieries and the beheading of Louis Capet.10
The song became the official national anthem under the Jacobins and was
thus closely affiliated with many of their radical republican ideals. In fact, the
very act of singing "la Marseillaise" during the Revolution became a means to
demonstrate ones fidelity to both the Revolution and the republic. The song
even managed to outlive the radical years under the Jacobins. It remained a
part of the musical-political landscape during the reign of Napoleon and was
sung by his conquering armies, whereas the more subversive "Ça Ira" and "la
Carmagnole" were forbidden to soldiers and subsequently repressed.
Following the end of the Revolution and the Empire, "la Marseillaise" would
oscillate between being a song of Republican subversion or establishment, de-
pending on what regime held power. The Bourbon restoration would outlaw "la
Marseillaise," but it would retur

early 1830s, sung in theaters as i
gime became more conservativ
a song of protest. "La Marseilla
until the next great revolutionar
As the wave of revolutions sta
"la Marseillaise" followed. Revo
verses. But again, following the
would retreat- or be driven-
Louis Napoleons coup and coron
its subversive roots. As one wo
ing the defeat at Sedan. It becam
workers and insurgents sang it
Prussians and Versailles.11 With
mestic tyrants, the song becam
"La Marseillaise" would travel w
of subversion back in France u
subversion and revolution unti
Gambettas Third Republic. Alth
its revolutionary appeal to the
its importance to our interests.
whom migrated into the anarch
it would fade with the aging of
opposition to anything associat
Manfredonia had justly pointed
lutionary song against which all
With Gambettas victory over
appeared to be finally on track
with the great symbolic acts o
anthem and Bastille Day as the
would undercut the value of th
stroyed its subversive relevancy.
not occur nearly as quickly or a
away from "la Marseillaise" was
Like much of their criticisms u
"la Marseillaise" as a means to d
its own ideals of democracy and
In the early years of the newl
begin their assault on the bour
article in La Révolution Sociale by Cassius,14 "Les Litanies

ou La Marseillaise des Bourgeois," attacks the concept of u
asserts that it is the right of all to deliberate and to partici
laws. Merely voting for representatives is a sham, a dupl
the Convention. By calling suffrage "la Marseillaise des B
draws a line between true liberty and the schemes devis
dle-class dominance.15 In a poem "la Marseillaise, Annive
journal, Lousie Michel tries to associate the anarchists wit
soldiers who became so intimately associated with the s
slain Communards to the pantheon occupied by the patr
ary Marseillais:
When the passionate Marseillais

Pass by once again,
Their names, mixed in the storms,
Will have the fate of which we are so proud

But for you, on the day of revenge.
It will be incumbent on us to submit
To the pillory of nations

The names of those who are selling out France!
Then, just as one does with snakes,

Justice, passing by,
Will crush your vile heads,
Pale under her triumphant foot.
After your time, it is ours !
But you will not have to die,

The field made sacred by the martyr-
His blood is too pure for yours.
The brave men of the Republic

Died at the foot of the gallows.
There, with a patriotic heart,
You were ten thousand executioners . . .
Behind the infamous traitors,

It is not there that you will die.
On this day you will dream
Of the dead, with dread in your hearts.
Kill kill always kill ! We wi

The proud battalion
Kill, Kill! We are legion!16
The anarchists are the next reb
estingly, Michel does not shy

laise" or the Commune. In fact,
that even the militarist- perh
namesakes still resonated amo
"La Marseillaise" demonstrat
chists throughout the 1880s.
singing the song at their meeti
nal distributed in Nice, Lo Sch
arguing that violence produc
point, they drew from the le
"la Marseillaise," connecting i
struggles in France and Spain
It is enough to read the history of

to be convinced of the moral po
of the people who never having
of 1789, guided by the song of t
armies of the European coalitio
the insurgents of Cartagena, wa
the Spanish fleet? What does thi
enough, they can do it, and tha
their impetuosity.18
A Parisian anarchist paper of

case, they desired to connect
struggles to that of "la Marse
Marseilles; It blew from the
Bravo! The fédérés of Marseil
grandchildren. The revoluti
ancestors, who, to the first e
the monarchy of their day. T
anarchists were not alone in their identification with "la Marseillaise" in the
1880s. The song was a common feature of strikes and worker demonstrations
during the decade. The striking workers sang "la Mars

any other song: a total of 39 percent of all songs sung
song was clearly the workers' early favorite as well as
struck up. By the 1890s, however, the emergence of
"la Marseillaise" and toward the more subversive "
evident.21 A similar shift can be found among the ana
By the 1890s, sentiments began to turn against "la M
ries of the Commune and the Ordre moral began to f
Marseillaise" seemed to hold less revolutionary potenc
ingly viewed the song not as a revolutionary call to a
the bourgeois regime. It became ever more difficult t
government by singing its national anthem. While "
less identified with popular revolution and increasin
Third Republic, the songs of the sans-culottes moved
Marseillaise" ceased to be a feature of anarchist meet
ings, while "Ça Ira" and "la Carmagnole" began to
frequency. This shift and the rationale for it appear qu
and song sheet promoting the virtues of "la Carmag
laise' became the official song of the dominant midd
remains a proletarian song, a cry of revolt and hatred
over periods when the people foresaw the hope of the
the anarchists put this sentiment into practice. In a p
guration of the Avenue de la République, the anarch
when the official band stuck up "la Marseillaise."23
Although the turn away from "la Marseillaise" a
anarchists still attempted to put the song to some u
Anti-Patriotes, the antimilitarist and antinationalist
duced a political poster titled "A Bas le Tzar." In this
opposition to the entente between Russia and France
the irony of "la Marseillaise," "which guided the sans-
upon the European monarchies, is now bellowed to th
Tzarist anthem."24 Thus we can see the anarchists still
sans-culotte traditions as opposed to bourgeois revolut
Third Republic. As late as 1901, some anarchists tack
the national anthem to the doors of Paris police statio
the letter, the anarchists attempt to appeal to police t
the clerical and "Jesuitical" reaction. On the backside o
"la Marseillaise" was printed:
Arise, children of Anarchy

The day has arrived to aveng
Against all the blasphemous
The bloody Red Flag is raise
The bloody Red Flag is raised
To avenge our suffering
The day of power is here
We want to live free or die
To Arms!! Anarchistst Form y
March!! March!!
With the vigorous bloody flo

Churches , the barracks and t
By the turn of the century, "la

French anarchists. Its increasin
tarnished its previous glory, lh
of revolution with an element
latter. As the anarchists develo
tions, the militarist aspects of
the years leading up to the Fir
with Laisant, who wrote in 19
dishonored by the reactionary
of: 'Arise, children of the fath
became much more importan
Manfredonia that "la Marseillai
return of the exiles does not s
"Ça Ira"
"Ça Ira" dates from the earliest days of the Revolution, and its title, "It will
all work out," conveys a tone of optimism associated with those early days.
The song's music and tune derive from a popular folk tune that predated the
Revolution. Although it had an earlier origin, the song became intimately
associated with the Fête de Fédération in 1790.27 This close association derives
from its singing by the voluntary workers at the Champ du Mars, the event
so loved by Kropotkin. Its early optimistic tone appeared in keeping with this
hopeful festival, where it seemed that all the classes of France were working
together to build a new, united nation. For the first time, the people joined
Anarchists and the Music of the French Revolution 1 1
the royalty, nobility, and clergy in participating in the

Both the song and the Fête appeared to hold the promis
"it will all work out." Although the Fête itself remained
hopeful singing became associated with its preparation.2
Unlike the formal "la Marseillaise," "Ça Ira" was a flexibl
tune and malleability allowed the song to be adapted b
winds of revolution. As the Revolution moved from th
and unified transition to a bitter and violent struggle, "
The early versions of the song were marked by their ho
Ah! We will win, we will win, we will win
We rejoice for the good times will come,

The people of the marketplace, once mere nobodies
They can now sing Alleluia.
And:
We must sing, rejoicing

One will remember the great festival.
The later versions exhibited much more violence and m

ing the chorus: "les aristocrates à la lanterne!"
Hang the aristocrats from the lanterns !

We will string up the aristocrats !

Despotism will expire,
Liberty will triumph,
We will have neither nobles nor priests

Equality will reign everywhere.

The Austrian slave will follow it
And their hellish clique

Will be sent to the devil29
This violent version of the son

working classes as the revolution
because the working classes sang
lutionary plays, this ominous, t
verbal weapon to be used against
hurled aggressive, violent versio
priests.30 Like singing "la Marse
conveying one's fidelity to the r
not the Jacobin revolution of th
of the sections and of the street
of subversion, a song of a revol
emblem of the popular revolutio
Not surprisingly, "Ça Ira" woul
anarchists. The song's strong ass
clearly helped endear it to the an
lutionaries sought to associate th
movement on numerous occasion
an enduring quality: it retained i
allowed the song to become popu
hundred years later. As the sans
fering circumstances of the Fren
adapted the song to fit modern
la lanterne!" could easily develop
song's dual nature, its oscillation
openly advocating violence again
anarchists. Anarchist propaganda
golden age in the post-revolution
oppression, and anxieties of mod
world of free labor, self-govern
revolution, it will all work out in
were not shy about advocating a
for the necessity of violence. Mu
the Revolution could only succee
the anarchists. The exact nature
means for dealing with them rem
fortheir demise.
The close association of "Ça Ira" with a revolutionar

strongly attracted the anarchists. None more than Emile P
of sans-culotte culture. Pouget, who had based his Père P
Heberťs Père Dúchense and used the graphic argot of the F
as Jean-Paul Marat did, drew greatly from the heritage
the sections. In an additional, although less well known,
French Revolution, Pouget partnered with Constant Marti
chist organization named "Ça Ira."31 This organization, fou
produced a journal of the same name. The first issue of Ça
dressed the importance and relevance of the song to the m
In doing so, the article provides an illuminating example o
tion of the French Revolution. The French Revolution serv
excellence for the coming revolution. To these anarchists
"cry of hatred and revolt which dominated all of the Fren
article discusses major revolutionary events of 1789-93: th
the Châteaux and Bastille, the Convention, the war against
attacks on the prisons, the demanding of the law of the m
ers. At each point, the article argues, it was the people wh
and, as a result, the Revolution. With each revolutionary
sung. Today, the bourgeoisie has replaced the aristocracy a
be taken to the lantern, and today, the anarchists take u
and attack. But while the sans-culottes happily assaulted
the anarchists will also destroy the institutions of power.
that they want neither god nor master and that they will
science and law with solidarity and cooperation. Like the F
will be necessary to use force to bring about this new worl
finds that it needed the hordes of 'bandits' which burned
and the battalions of insurrectionists, which took Tuileries
like the French Revolution, it shall be a collective revolt,
of violence. Only a general insurrection will have the forc
world. It is the duty of anarchists to create the propaganda n
happen and to take advantage of current political events t
closer to revolution.32
As "la Marseillaise" began to fade for the anarchists, "Ça

relevant and began to play a greater role at anarchist meet
There were numerous reports of its singing, especially in
1887 and 1890, the anarchists only sang "la Carmagnole"
More popular than the song itself was the threat of à la la
surveillance recorded numerous threats of this nature. A
had certainly progressed since

of execution now existed, the
remained surprisingly popular
ated with the Terror- the guil
One rarely finds them advocat
officials. There are three proba
associated the guillotine of the
This was state-sponsored execut
rages and sans-culotte leadersh
the Revolution and remained the official means of execution. Criminals and
anarchists, including Ravachol, met their fate upon its scaffold. The guil-
lotine became thus a symbol of repression, not of popular revolution. Finally,
threatening to hang one's enemies from the lampposts evoked a collective mob
threat. It would be "the people," not the government, who would render this
mob violence in a collective and public means. Anarchist ideology of violent
insurrection remained much more in keeping with this method of execution.
Whereas anarchists most commonly engaged in individual acts of violence,
they understood such acts not as ends in themselves but as precipitating
catalysts that would create the revolutionary environment necessary for later,
general, collective revolution. Although they cried "bourgeois aux lanternes!"
often enough, they were not the only victims of this threat. One can also find
calls of "mouchards [informers] aux lanternes!" and "Police aux lanternes!"
as well.34
"Ça Ira" served as an emblem of popular revolt during the most revolution-
ary years of the French Revolution. It expressed a hope for a new future and
violent anger against the enemies of that future. This emblem of the Revolu-
tion would remain a standard of the revolutionaries following in the footsteps
of 1789-94. Singing "Ça Ira," even evoking it, allowed the anarchists to situate
themselves in a chain of continuity from the past and use a shared historical
culture in a continuing struggle. Of course, "Ça Ira" was not the only sans-
culotte anthem to be adopted by the anarchists. Much of the same activity could
be seen with another favorite song from the Revolution, "la Carmagnole."
"La Carmagnole"
Of all the songs from the French Revolution, "la Carmagnole" proved to be
far and away the most popular song with the anarchists. Like "Ça Ira" - and
unlike "la Marseillaise" - "la Carmagnole" has its roots in the popular folk
music of the sans-culottes and the peasants of the eight

like "Ça Ira," "la Carmagnole" proved to be flexible an
modernized, as well as extremely subversive. Its two k
and subversiveness, as well as its close association with
made "la Carmagnole" relevant to the anarchists and a
revolutionary activity.
"La Carmagnole," like "Ça Ira," remained closely asso
radical events of the French Revolution and the sans-c
unlike "Ça Ira," "la Carmagnole" gained its popularity
find the overnight success that "Ça Ira" had achieved
of the Champ du Mars. Additionally, whereas "Ça Ira"
tone, "la Carmagnole" was always closely associated wit
"La Carmagnole" really burst onto the scene with the a
on 10 August 1792, the event that led to the end of the
calization of the Revolution. The crowd sang the song
longest reigning royal family. After 10 August, "la Car
associated with sans-culotte militancy. Whereas "la M
its respectability among some of the wealthier classes
the sole property of the working classes. It appeared
during the Revolution, each tailored to a specific mome
the song spoke of general revolutionary events and asp
What do republicans want

What do republicans want ?
Liberty for the human race
Liberty for the human race.
The pickaxes to break out of the dungeons.
The torches to the castles.
And peace in the thatched cottages,

Long live the sound of the cannon
Let us dance the carmagnole
Let the sound ring out , Let the sound ring out
Let us dance the carmagnole
Long live the sound of the canoni
The later versions of the song addressed specific revolu

version focused upon the journée of 10 August:
Madame Veto had promised

To have the throat cut of all
But she failed
Thanks to our cannons.
Let us dance the Carmagnol

Let the sound ring out, Let t
Dance the Carmagnole
Long live the sound of the c
Monsieur Veto had promise

To remain loyal to the fathe
But he failed to do this
Let us no longer give him qu
The 1793 version details the t

famines:
Ah! If they have common se

All the people would be uni
Far from cutting their own
They would all come eat
From the same plate ,
Let the sound ring out, Let
From the same plate,
Long live the sound of the c
And finally, following 9 Ther

reactionary White Terror:
Fouquier-Tinville had prom

To guillotine all of Paris (re
But he was mistaken
Because he was cut short.
Long live the guillotine!

For these executioners, for t
Long live the guillotine
For these executioners, vile
From this selection of verses, one can get a flavor

flexibility and insurrectionary quality. For each mo
version of "la Carmagnole" followed. The song beca
illiterate culture to celebrate, propagandize, and ch
Revolution. And the revolutionary tradition of "la
with the Restoration. Like so much else from the F
return again and again. One could hear the song ris
1848 and 1871. With every revolutionary convulsion
would be there.
With such a rich revolutionary heritage, one woul

find "la Carmagnole" to be an important part of ana
song supplies one of the most consistent elements
to appear among the anarchists from early days of
until the First World War. The anarchists sang an
a variety of ways. They sang it at meetings, rallie
it as an expression of solidarity, as a form of prot
dance the Carmagnole" became a term of revolutio
Carmagnole, like "faire '93," became a means to com
enemies alike, the threat of social revolution. Even
jacket from the south of France from which the s
popular for a period. The strong popularity of t
and the larger working-class community signaled
revolutionary era.
Like their sans-culotte forerunners, the anarchist
sions of "la Carmagnole" to fit specific political circu
arguably the most important and influential was P
"la Ravachole" itself underwent numerous interest
versions of the song attacked the bourgeois, the mil
the religious. Other versions celebrated working-cla
violence, the general strike, and even the victory of
The anarchists produced a number of different "
get a feeling for their updated revolutionary songs
be examined. The first specifically anarchist versi
peared in 1882. This version rehashed a number of
sans-culottes ' versions. Some verses were lifted dire
Ah! If they have common sense (repeat)

All the people would be united in one (repeat)
Far from cutting their own throats ,
They would all come eat

From the same plate.
Other verses were updated vers

the Commune and its defense:
The Bourgeoisie had promis

To massacre all of Paris (rep
But they failed
Thanks to our fédérés
Who will cut off their heads
Whereas this anarchist song did

"la Carmagnole' introduced ne
gnoles." Two of the more popu
imagery with scenes of solidari
What do republicans ask fo

Iron , leady then some bread
The iron for work ,
The lead for revengey
And the bread for his broth
Other verses focused on the ot

antimilitarism. Additionally, on
losophy that the anarchists inh

To die without a priest . .

Work , knowledge , and win
Knowledge for enlightenmen
Work in order to eat ,
And a full glass of wine ...
A similar "la Carmagnole," "la

in 1883, written in the workin
at that group of workers well
Carmagnole" created similar images of class strugg

lence. The song argued that only through revoluti
workers - in this case, miners and blacksmiths - be
rent circumstances. However, this violence was the
selves, and their reward for their sacrifices would
and freedom:
The starving ones need (repeat)

Neither god, nor masters, nor whores, (repeat)
They will be delivered from them
As soon as they all get along
Because they are in the right and have the power
Lets go miners and ironworkers (repeat)

Unite and conquer (repeat)
Because without fighting
We will never even begin to think
Of leaving our prisons.
When the side of right has triumphed (repeat)

As soon as the people see (repeat)
The bitches at Montfaucon
The exploiters in Toulon
And the religious bigots in the mines!
Delivered from the vampires (repeat)

Society renewed (repeat)
Workingfreely
And fraternally
Will live in abundance ... 40
Another "la Carmagnole" from 1883 calls for violent revolution and attacks
on the bourgeoisie. This version dates from the labor trouble of Monceau-les-
Mines, and the anarchists reprinted it on handbills. The song draws from many
of the same images, but adds a new twist: it calls on the peasants to join the rev-
olutionary struggle, hoping to draw from their resentment of military service:
The bourgeois had promised themselves (repeat)

To make profits from our flesh (repeat)
But their calculations are self

From the work of our own h
We will expropriate them.
The day when we will rise up

With torches and rifles , we w
In the fields and in the works
We will form only one army :
All for oney one for all.41
An additional version, titled "l

paper La Révolte , continued to
the same verses from sans-culo
example, it also added somethin
and bombing to bring about th
treme violence even by anarchis
can purge the earth of the anar
For our liberation , the only

Is to blow the thieves up. (rep
Dynamite and petrol
For the vulture who steals
And for the powerful , the bo
The workerSy the city-dwelle

Who hate the mounted polic
For the day of the battle ,
Death to the rabble! . . .
Let us purge the earth of them
The culmination of anarchist "

Ravachole." At least two differen
appeared in the Alamanach du
elements of both "la Carmagnol
Let us dance the Ravachole,
Let the sound ring out , Let th

Let us dance the Ravachole
Let the sound ring out ,
Of the explosion!
Ah, we will win. , we will win , we will win
All the bourgeois will taste the bomb,

Ah, we will win, we will win, we will win
All the bourgeois will blow up

We will blow them up!
The verses of the song illuminate the sharp divide be

Paris. The rich live in sumptuous palaces and are well fe
half- frozen in hovels. The song also attacks the politic
where the magistrates, bought and sold by financiers a
than butchers in uniform. From these bleak circumsta
ed the way to the future, and the long suffering of th
with the violent death of the bourgeoisie:
Ah, go dammit, lets finish it! (repeat)

We have suffered and moaned long enough! (repea
No more half war!
No more cowardly pity!
Death to the Bourgeoisie ... 43
Another variation on "la Ravachole," by an unknown au

1894. This "la Ravachole" also established a direct con
Revolution with its opening verse, giving the song its
Once our forefathers sang (repeat)

When the Bastille was blown up (repeat)
Crushing the nobility,
They had done it with exhilaration ... 44
And then, with the next verse, it draws a parallel to the
We today are better than at other times (repeat)

We shall make the bourgeois dance, (repeat)
Better with the pike
Than with beautiful music.45
And like Pougets version, Rav

was Ravachol a revolutionary,
followed:
Ravachol was a good compa

He made all those pigs trem
Because this brave anarchist
As artist , he figured it out
Playing with dynamite.
We, the revolutionaries of to

Lets do as he did,
Without a trembling hand

Together we will blow up
The bourgeois Bastilles ... 46
This song also celebrates and call

dition to terrorism. The worke
expropriate whatever they nee
an antimilitarist call, telling sold
revolutionary acts, again, a bett
Under our blows must collap

Capital, laws, prisons, and p
On these hateful ruins
The independence of humanit
Will construct the just society
These new "la Ravacholes" bring

lutionary struggle of the late ni
familiar tune and evoking the r
the old lyrics. Gone is the talk o
hostility is on the bourgeoisie an
It would not be uncommon fo
chist meetings and reunions. C
ings of militants served severa
other songs, it provided a mean
Second, it provided a means
and created a means of revolut
Finally, the singing of "la Carmagnole," like other revo

reinforce shared values. The practice of singing this so
very common. It was one of the most popular songs- m
the "l'Internationale"- and clearly the most common s
Revolution. The Paris Police Archives reveal numerous accounts of anarchists
singing "la Carmagnole." One can find references to its singing at anarchist
meetings in almost every year from 1880 to 1914.48 The reasons for the songs
enduring popularity can be attributed, like that of "Ça Ira," to its flexibility,
its well-known and infectious tune, and its close association with sans-culotte
militancy and popular revolution.
Often, the anarchists opened their meetings and reunions with the singing
of "la Carmagnole." Doing so allowed them to formally initiate their proceed-
ings and to set the proper revolutionary tone. Moreover, this fraternal singing
served as a form of inauguration of the militants. A reunion in 1897 provides a
good example of this. The anarchists held a meeting and banquet on the evening
of 5 September at the Bois de Vincennes that featured the attendance of Lousie
Michel, among others. Before the banquet and the speeches that followed, the
militants all sang "la Carmagnole," "le Père Duchêne," and "la Ravachole." After
the meeting, the anarchists adjourned to Place de la Bastille to sing the same
songs again.49 These events demonstrate the utilization of song culture for two
distinct purposes. The first instance of the singing was an act of the militants
among themselves to create the feeling of solidarity. The second instance was
public, and though it may have continued to build solidarity by collectively
making a public statement, publicly singing at this location in particular was
a means for the anarchists to make an open revolutionary statement and align
themselves with the French revolutionary tradition.
The anarchists more commonly sang "la Carmagnole" to adjourn meetings.
After the speeches, debates, arguments, and planning had concluded, "la Car-
magnole" served as a form of culmination and reaffirmation. Its radical lyr-
ics, quick tempo, and jaunty beat served to rally the militants at the end of
the day. Shouts of "Vive l'Anarchie," "Vive la Commune," "A bas le bourgeois,"
"Bourgeois aux lanterns," and so forth, often accompanied the singing.50 Like
the meeting described above, the compagnons commonly sang "la Carmagnole"
while exiting the meeting. Again, this movement from fraternal singing from
the private space of a meeting to the public space of the street was a means of
creating a kind of public revolutionary action. It became a way of taking the
militancy developed during the meeting into the public sphere. In doing so,
one could publicly state ones position as a militant and revolutionary. An act of
solidarity could turn into a revolutionary threat or protest.
The act of publicly singing "la

chist protest, just as it had been
of this highly subversive song
target of the protest may have
an effective means. In 1884, wh
selves locked out of their mee
Carmagnole" until the police for
planned to protest in front of
ing was taking place, by singin
meeting.52 Anarchists also sang
enne in 1890, anarchist militants
singing "la Carmagnole," where
cloth that they had expropriated
One year earlier during the B
"la Carmagnole" to protest the
guration of the Avenue de la R
sentiments surrounding the son
saw earlier, the anarchists sang
band struck up "la Marseillaise.
became the national anthem an
the anarchists came to reject it
seillaise" no longer "their" son
playing with the more subversi
Perhaps the most interesting
found in the violent confrontation between anarchists and nationalists at the
height of the Dreyfus Affair. At a meeting of the nationalist Jeunesse Française,

barely a month after the pardoning of Dreyfus, about 50 anarchists armed with
red and black canes invaded the hall singing "la Carmagnole" and chanting
"Vive la Sociale!" The nationalists responded: "Vive Déroulède!" "A bas Jau-
rès!" "Panama! Panama!" It was not long before the singing and shouting led to
blows. The anarchists got the better of the fight: one fired a pistol, forcing the
nationalists from their meeting, and the nationalist's journals were burned by
the anarchists.55 Here, "la Carmagnole" served as the rallying cry of anarchist
protest against their right-wing adversaries.
But the anarchists did not reserve "la Carmagnole" solely for their enemies
on the right; they even used the song to protest their fellow socialists. In 1890,
at meeting of various socialists, an anarchist was refused the opportunity to
speak. In protest, he sang "la Carmagnole." Three hundred fifty others joined
him and effectively stopped the meeting from proceeding.56 "La Carmagnole"
even found its way into more solemn protests like the 1891
pagnon . Perhaps the songs lively tune provided a means of r
tants or a statement of defiance at time of mourning.57 "La Car
flexible enough to be used in a number of situations and ag
different opponents.
Singing "la Carmagnole" served as a popular and effective
ruptive protest, but more than that, the very phrase "danson
developed into a statement of threat. Much as "faire '93" pro
means of threatening violent, popular revolution, so did "d
gnole'"58 When a group of anarchists found themselves locked
by police in Montmarte, they tried to force their way in. This
violence, arrests, and increased tensions. In this atmosphere,
tant argued that they should return to the hall and storm th
the chance of arrest. She shouted that they should open the d
and "We broke everything and we danced the Carmagnole."59
1885, reprinted an anarchist placard that used "la Carmagno
for violent revolution:
Emperors and kings, bourgeois and exploiters, your fateful ho

Soon the funeral bugle will sound your final fall! And we swear
faith as revolutionaries that we are certain that the workers of th
will dance the international Carmagnole on your banks, codes, gre

mortgages, bodies of notaries, land registers, stocks, obligations a
rently constitutes your privileges of private property. An avengin
fire will forever destroy all your acts and titles, which have mor
assets then there are currently men on earth.60
In this case, "la Carmagnole" is given international significa

from a term of the French working-class revolution in i793
international popular revolution. All of the workers of the w
the tune of the eighteenth-century French folk song.
Overall, the musical culture of the French Revolution not
relevant for the anarchists at the turn of the century but als
portant part of their propaganda. The songs of the Revolutio
popular imagination of the French working classes, and the
to use these associations to their own advantage. The anarchi
cal culture of the French Revolution to situate themselves w
revolutionary continuity. They aligned themselves with the s
Revolution through their culture and sought to turn the revo
those sans-culottes s ghosts on t

sie and their republic.
NOTES
i. See Gaetano Manfredonia, La Chanson Anarchiste en France des Origines à 1914 (" Dansons la
Ravacholeï") (Paris: L'Harmattan, 1997) and Richard D. Sonn, Anarchism and Cultural Politics
in Fin de Siècle France (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1989). Manfredonia has writ-
ten with the most authority on the anarchist song culture at the turn of the century, focusing
on the diverse nature of their original and historically based creations. Sonn examines the
overall relations of the Parisian anarchists to the larger artistic community, especially those
in Montmarte.
2. Laura Mason, Singing the French Revolution (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996), 3-4.
3. Manfredonia, La Chanson Anarchiste, 7.
6. Michelle Perrot, Workers on Strike: France 1871-1890, trans. Chris Turner (New Haven, CT: Yale
University Press, 1987), 161-62.
7. Mason, Singing the French Revolution, 7.
8. Mason, Singing the French Revolution, 107-10, 124-26, and 166.
10. Michel Vovelle, "La Marseillaise: War or Peace," in Realms of Memory: Construction of the
French Past, Vol III: Symbols, ed. Pierre Nora, trans. Arthur Goldhammer (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1996), 36-39.
11. Vovelle, "La Marseillaise," 40-56.
12. Manfredonia, La Chanson Anarchiste, 175-76.
14. Interestingly, many of the contributors to the La Révolution Sociale took pen names from the
classical defenders of liberty. Although they often heaped scorn upon the Jacobins' role in the
Revolution, they also adopted their proclivity for the classical world, especially that of the Ro-
man Republic and its defenders, Cassius, Brutus, and others.
15. Cassius, "Les Litanies Suffrage Universel ou La Marseillaise des Bourgeois," La Révolution So-
ciale: Organe Anarchiste 2, no. 33 (Paris, 31 July 1881).
16. All of the translations is this work are my own. I have tried to err on the side of accuracy rather
than poetry, so I apologize in advance for any cumbersome phrasing.
Quand les Marseillaises [sic] ardents

De nouveau passeront dans l'air,
Leurs noms, mêlés dans les tourmentes,
Auront le sort dont on est fier.

Mais vous, au jour de la vengeance,
Il faudra bien que nous mettions
Au pilori des nations
Les noms des vendeurs de la France!
Alors, comme on fait aux reptiles,

La grande justice, en passant,
Ecrasera vos têtes viles,
Pâles sous son pied triomphant.
Après votre heure, c'est la nôtre!
Mais vous n'aurez pas pour périr,
Le champ sacré par le martyr:
Son sang est trop pur pour le vôtre.
Les braves de la République

Sont morts au pied de ces poteaux.
Là, pour un coeur patriotique,
Vous étiez dix mille bourreaux . . .
Arrière les traîtres infâmes,

Ce n'est pas là que vous mourrez.
En ce jour-là vous songerez
Aux morts, dans l'effroi de vos âmes.
Tuez, tuez toujours, tuez! Nous reviendrons

Fier bataillon
Tuez, Tuez! Nous sommes légion!
Lousie Michel, "La Marseillaise, Anniversaire," La Révolution Socia

14 (12 December 1880).
17. Archives de la Préfecture de Police (from here after APP) BA 7

is different depending upon the archives used, but most utilize an
example the BA series represented the poltiical files of the Paris P
18. "Il suffit de lire l'histoire du peuple dans ce dernier siècle, dans
convaincu de la puissance morale des insurgés ... Et les bataillo
jamais reçu le baptême de feu dans les journées splendides de 17
Marseillaise, ne mirent-ils pas en déroute les armées aguerries de
firent les Communards à Paris? Et les fédérés de Carthagène, n'em
une partie de la flotte espagnole? Que démontre cela? Que lorsque l
n'y a aucune force humaine qui peut tenir tête à son impétuosité."
19. "Le mistral de la Révolution a soufflé à Marseille; ils ont soufflé

Marseillais! Bravo! Les fédérés marseillais, les fédérés du 10 aoû
enfants. Les socialistes révolutionnaires d'aujourd'hui sont dignes
miers échos de la Marseillaise,' canonnaient crânement la monarchie d'alors. La monarchie
présente, c'est la bourgeoisie." Raulin, "Aux Marseillais," L'Insurgé: Organe Socialiste Révolution-
naire Indépendant de Égaux du XI 1, no. 3, (Paris, 1-15 April 1887. L'Insurgé was not an explicitly
anarchist journal, but it did demonstrate much affinity for the anarchist movement. Lousie
Michel was an early contributor to the journal.
20. Perrot, Workers on Strike, 161-62.
21. Perrot, Workers on Strike.
22. "Tandis que 'la Marseillaise est deven

Carmagnole' est restée une chanson pro
richi aux époques où le peuple entrevit
çais d'Histoire Social (of the Archives Na
Police Archives, L'Institute Français d'H
alpha-numeric system of catalogueing as
cal and social movements.
23. APP BA 507.
24. ". . . qui guida les sans-culottes a l'assaut des monarchies européennes, est braillée avec accom-
pagnement de l'hymne tzarien." APP BA 78.
25. Allons, enfants de l'Anarchie

Le jour de se venger est arrivé
Contre tous les êtres impies
Le Drapeau Rouge sanglant est levé
Le Drapeau Rouge sanglant est levé
Pour nous venger de nos souffrances
Et jour pouvoir les Anicantir [sic]
Nous ne voulons vivre libre ou Mourir
Aux Armes!! Anarchistes, Formez des Bataillons,
Marchons!! Marchons!!
Qu'un sang vigueur, Abreuve les

Eglises, les casernes et les Prisons
APP BA 1498. This is not the first time in French history that "Allons les enfants de l'anarchie" has
appeared. In 1792, a parody of "la Marseillaise" targeting the Jacobins was composed. Of course,
here les enfants de l'anarchie are not celebrated but condemned. They are described as bloodthirsty
butchers, counting neither their infamies nor the number of their prey. See Mason, 82.
26. "Le chant de la guerre d'alors, aujourd'hui parodié et déshonoré par la réaction bourgeoisie, fait
vibrer les âmes au cri de: Allons, enfants de la patrier C. A. Laisant, La Barberie Moderne (Paris:
Éditions de la "Bataille Syndicaliste," 1912), 295.
27. Vovelle, "La Marseillaise," 30.
29. Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira

Réjouissons-nous le bon temps viendra,
Legens des Halles jadis a quia
Peuvent chanter Alléluia.
Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira

Il nous faut chanter en réjouissance
Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira
De la grande fête on se souviendra.
Les aristocrates à la lanterne!

Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira,
Les aristocrates, on les pendra!

Les despotisme expiera,
La liberté triomphera,
Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira,
Nous n'avions plus ni

nobles , ni prêtres,
Ah! ça ira , ça ira , ça ira ,
Légalité partout régnera.
Lesclave autrichien le suivra,
Ah ça ira, ça ira, ça ira
Et leur infernale clique

Au diable s'envolera.
30. Mason, Singing the French Revolution, 45-53.
32. ". . . cri d'espérance et de révolte qui a dominé toute la Révolution

faut que les hordes des bandits' qui brûlaient les châteaux en 89, se
lons d'insurgés, qui prirent les Tuileries au 10 août, se reforment."
Anarchiste 1, no. 1 (27 May 1888).
33. See APP BA 75 and 76.
34. See APP BA 78 and 1497.
35. Que demandeur républicain,

Que demandeur républicain ?
La liberté du genre humain
La liberté du genre humain.
Le pics dans les cachots.
La torch ' dans les châteaux.
Et la paix aux chaumières,

Vive le son du canon
Dansons la carmagnole,
Vive le son, Vive le son
Dansons la carmagnole,
Vive le son du canon.
36. Madam Veto avait promis (bis)

de faire égorger tout Paris; (bis)
Mais son coup a manqué
Grâce à nos canonniers.
Dansons la Carmagnole . . .
Monsieur Veto avait promis (bis)

Detre fidèle à sa patrie; (bis)
Mais il y a manqué.
Ne faisons plus quart.
37. Ah! s'ils avaient les sens commun (bis)

Tous les peuples n'en feraient qu'un, (bis)
Loin de sentr'égorger,
Ils viendraient tous manger
A la même gamelle,
Vive le son, vive le son,
A la même gamelle,
Vive le son du canon!
38. Fouquier-Tinville avait promis (bis)

De guillotiner tout Paris, (bis)
Mais il en a menti
Car il est raccourci ,
Vive la guillotine!
Pour ces bourreaux , pour ces bourreaux
Vive la guillotine
Pour ces boutteaux, vils fléaux!
39. Ah! s'ils avaient le sens commun! (b

Tous les peuples n'en feraient qu'un (bis
Au lieu de s'égorger,
Ils viendraient tous manger
A la même gamelle;
La Bourgeoisie avait promis (bis)

De faire massacrer Paris (bis)
Mais son coup a manque
Grâce à nos fédérés:
On lui coupera la tête
Que demande un républicain! (bis)

Du fer, du plomb, et puis du pain, (bi
Du fer pour labourer,
Du plomb pour venger,
Et du pain pour ses frères;
Que faut-il aux républicains (bis)

C'est mourir sans calotin . . . (bis)
Que demande un républicain! (bis)

Le travail, la science et le vin, (bis)
La science pour l'éclairer,
Le travail pour manger,
Et du vin plein son verre . . .
Archives Nationales (from here after

dealt with Internal Security.
40. Il faut aux bons Cruesotins , (bis)

Ni dieu, ni maîtres, ni catins(bis);
Ils s'en délivreront,
Dès lors qu'ils s'entendront,
Car ils ont droit et force!
Allonsmineurs et forgerons, (bis)

Unissons-nous et vaincrons ; (bis)
Car, jamais, sans lutter,
Nous ne pourrons songer
A sortir de nos bagnes!
Quand le bon droit triomphera, (bis)

Au plus tôt le peuple enverra; (bis)
Catins à Montfaucon,
Exploiteurs à Toulon,
Et bondieusaille aux mines !
De ses vampires délivrée, (bis),

La Société régénérée; (bis)
Travaillant librement
Et fraternellement,
Vivra dans l'abondance . . .
41. Les bourgeois s'étaient bien promis (bis)

D en fair' de la chair à profit (bis)
Mais leurs calculs sont vains,
Ne feront est dans nos mains ,
On les expropriera.
Le jour où l'on insurgera (bis)

Fourches et fusils, ça ira (bis)
Les champs et l'atelier
Ne feront qu'une armée ;
Tous pour un, un pour tous.
IFHS 14/AS/156.
42. Pour s'affranchir, les seuls moyens, (bis)

C'est faire sauter les vauriens, (bis)
Dynamite et pétrole
Pour le vautour qui vole,
Et aux puissants la bombe (Refrain)
Les laboureurs, les citadins (bis)

A mort détestent les roussins. (bis)
Au jour de la bataille
A mort cette racaille! . . .
Qu'on en purge la terre . . .
La Révolte: Organe Communiste-Anarchiste 1, no. 2, (Calais, 30 Ma

later change its name to La Révolte des Affamés and reprint "la Ca
43. Dansons la Ravachole,

Vive le son, vive le son,
Dansons la Ravachole,
Vive le son,
D'I'explosion!
Ah, ça ira, ça ira, ça ira,
Tous les bourgeois gout'ront d'ia bombe,
Ah, ça ira, ça ira, ça ira,
Tous les bourgeois on les sauťra
On les sauťra!
Ah, nom de dieu, faut en finir! (bis)

Assez longtemps geindre et souffrir! (bis)
Pas de guerre à moitié!
Plus de lâche pitié!
Mort à la bourgeoisie . . .
Emile Pouget, Le Almanach du Père Peinard (Paris 1894) (An Cil), 48. Pougets yearly Almanach
continued to use the revolutionay calander created in 1793. Thus An CII, refered to Year 102.
The revolutionary calander had declared

the Repubic) as a new era in world history
calander by anarchist like Pouget further
Revolution for the anarchist movement.
44. Jadis nos pères ont chanté (bis)

Lorsque la bastille a sauté (bis)
Ecrasant la noblesse,
Ils ont avec ivresse . . .
45. Nous aujourd'hui mieux qu'autrefois (bis

Nous faisons danser les bourgeois, (bis)
Mieux qu'avec la pique
Parla belle musique
46. Ravachol un bon compagnon (bis)

A fait trembler tous ces cochons (bis)
Car ce brave anarchiste
A su faire en artiste
Parier la dynamite
Nous les révoltés d'aujourd'hui, (bis)

Compagnons faisons comme lui,
Sans que la main nous tremble,
Sauter avec ensemble
Les bastilles bourgeoises . . .
47. Sous nos coups doivent s'écrouler (bis)

Capital, lois prisons, palais (bis)
Sur ces ruines de haine
L'indépendance humaine
Bâtira la Sociale.
AN F7 12509.
48. See APP BA 73-78, 8o, 1497, and 1498.
49. APP BA 1497.
50. See APP BA 73-78, 80, 1497, 1498.
51. APP BA 73.
52. APP BA 77.
53. Perrot, Workers on Strike, 177. This wa

peared at a violent strike by weavers. In Av
sans-culotte tune while they threw stones
180.
54. APP BA 508.
55. APP BA 1498.
56. APP BA 76.
57. APP BA 77.
58. Perrot argues that "faire '93" was argot for "to begin the revolution." Sh
most often depicted among radical French workers as the ideal revolution
Commune, which was a result of self-censorship. See Perrot, Workers on S
59. ". . . nous casserons tout et nous danserons la Carmagnole." APP BA 73.
60. "Empereurs et rois, bourgeois et exploiteurs, pour vous l'heure fatale ap

ron funèbre sonnera votre chute! Et nous vous jurons sur notre foi de rév
avons la certitude que les travailleurs du monde entier danseront la Carm
sur vos banques, codes, grandes livres, archives, hypothèques, notariats, c
ligations et tout ce qui constitue, actuellement vos privilèges sur la propr
vengeur et bienfaisant détruira à tout jamais tous ces actes et ces titres, ay
leur actif qu'il n'y a d'hommes actuellement sur terre. " APP BA 74.

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Anarchists and the Music of the French Revolution

Author(s): C. Alexander McKinley

■ C. Alexander McKinley, St. Ambrose University

imagery, iconography, and music. These images and songs would

anarchists did create a good d

Song Culture in French Revol

Revolutionary French politic

then the songs could be transmitted with little difficult

their individuality from othe

The relevance of song cultur

during demonstrations, and grimly at executions. A

Of all the many songs of the French Revolution, th

Marseillaise," but it would retur

article in La Révolution Sociale by Cassius,14 "Les Litanies

When the passionate Marseillais

Will have the fate of which we are so proud

To the pillory of nations

Then, just as one does with snakes,

But you will not have to die,

The brave men of the Republic

Behind the infamous traitors,

Kill kill always kill ! We wi

The anarchists are the next reb

estingly, Michel does not shy

It is enough to read the history of

A Parisian anarchist paper of

during the decade. The striking workers sang "la Mars

Arise, children of Anarchy

With the vigorous bloody flo

By the turn of the century, "la

the royalty, nobility, and clergy in participating in the

Ah! We will win, we will win, we will win

We rejoice for the good times will come,

Ah! We will win, we will win, we will win

We must sing, rejoicing

One will remember the great festival.

The later versions exhibited much more violence and m

Hang the aristocrats from the lanterns !

We will string up the aristocrats !

We will have neither nobles nor priests

Equality will reign everywhere.

And their hellish clique

This violent version of the son

The close association of "Ça Ira" with a revolutionar

As "la Marseillaise" began to fade for the anarchists, "Ça

had certainly progressed since

music of the sans-culottes and the peasants of the eight

What do republicans want

And peace in the thatched cottages,

The later versions of the song addressed specific revolu

Madame Veto had promised

Let us dance the Carmagnol

Monsieur Veto had promise

The 1793 version details the t

Ah! If they have common se

And finally, following 9 Ther

Fouquier-Tinville had prom

Long live the guillotine!

From this selection of verses, one can get a flavor

With such a rich revolutionary heritage, one woul

Ah! If they have common sense (repeat)

They would all come eat

Other verses were updated vers