Ca Ira

Ca Ira (it will go on), the popular song of the French Revolution, first known to have been sung in 1790 by the 200,000 Parisians who prepared the Champ de Mars for the fete commemorative of the taking of the Bastille. (The phrase itself is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who, tired of being questioned as to the progress of the American Revolution, regularly gave this answer.) The music of the song is said to be adapted from a dance tune then in vogue; the authorship of the words was claimed by a singer named Ladre.