ABC Café / Red & Black

The time is near
 So near it's stirring the blood in their veins!
 And yet beware
 Don't let the wine go to your brains!
 For the army we fight is a dangerous foe
 With the men and the arms that we never can match
 It is easy to sit here and swat 'em like flies
 But the national guard will be harder to catch.
 We need a sign
 To rally the people
 To call them to arms
 To bring them in line!
 (Marius enters)
 Marius, you're late.
 What's wrong today?
 You look as if you've seen a ghost.
 Some wine and say what's going on!
 A ghost you say... a ghost maybe
 She was just like a ghost to me
 One minute there, and she was gone!
 I am agog!
 I am aghast!
 Is Marius in love at last?
 I've never heard him 'ooh' and 'aah'
 You talk of battles to be won
 And here he comes like Don Ju-an
 It's better than an o-per-a!
 It is time for us all
 To decide who we are
 Do we fight for the right
 To a night at the opera now?
 Have you asked of yourselves
 What's the price you might pay?
 Is it simply a game
 For rich young boys to play?
 The color of the world
 Is changing day by day...
 Red - the blood of angry men!
 Black - the dark of ages past!
 Red - a world about to dawn!
 Black - the night that ends at last!
 Had you been there tonight
 You might know how it feels
 To be struck to the bone
 In a moment of breathless delight!
 Had you been there tonight
 You might also have known
 How the world may be changed
 In just one burst of light!
 And what was right seems wrong
 And what was wrong seems right!
 Red...
 I feel my soul on fire!
 Black...
 My world if she's not there!
 Red...
 The color of desire!
 ALL
 Black...
 The color of despair!
 Marius, you're no longer a child
 I do not doubt you mean it well
 But now there is a higher call.
 Who cares about your lonely soul?
 We strive toward a larger goal
 Our little lives don't count at all!
 Red - the blood of angry men!
 Black - the dark of ages past!
 Red - a world about to dawn!
 Black - the night that ends at last!
 Well, Courfeyrac, do we have all the guns?
 Feuilly, Combeferre, our time is running short.
 Grantaire, put the bottle down!
 Do we have the guns we need?
 Give me brandy on my breath
 And I'll breathe them all to death!
 In St. Antoine they're with us to a man!
 In Notre Dame they're tearing up the stones!
 Twenty rifles good as new!
 (Gavroche rushes in shouting)
 Listen!
 Twenty rounds for every man!
 Listen to me!
 Double that in Port St. Cloud!
 Listen everybody!
 Seven guns in St. Martin!
 General Lamarque is dead!
 Lamarque is dead.
 Lamarque! His death is the hour of fate.
 The people's man.
 His death is the sign we await!
 On his funeral day they will honor his name.
 It's a rallying cry that will reach every ear!
 In the death of Lamarque we will kindle the flame
 They will see that the day of salvation is near!
 The time is near!
 Let us welcome it gladly with courage and cheer
 Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our hearts
 But a jubilant shout
 They will come one and all
 They will come when we call!