Ca Ira: Opera in Three Acts: "So to the Streets in the Pouring Rain..."

RINGMASTER
So to the streets in the pouring rain
The dispossessed and the drunk and the lame
Gathered in bands and took the law into their own hands
Like the daring young man on the flying trapeze
Like birds flying into a storm
They took the great leap
And launched themselves into the void
We broke into the arsenal, Les Invalides
Found cannonball and powder, everything we need
We marched on the Bastille
The home of tyranny
Killed the jailer
And set two madmen free
RINGMASTER
When you have an army of your own
You get to choose
Who will live
Who will die
Who will win
Who will lose
TROUBLEMAKER
A piece of prison stone
Is all I have to call my own
Insight to see the other side
Strength and weakness, love and pride
Is all I have to leave my child
If my child survives
He’ll judge men by their deeds and not their smiles
He’ll keep his taste of good red wine
His pride, his friends, his lust for life
These are the things that will avail him
If my child survives…