At Notre Dame, the sanctions are prepared At Ruby Park, they're straining at the least Students, workers, everyone, there's a river on the run Like the flowing of a tide, Paris coming to our side 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 in the arms that we never can match Oh, it's easy to sit here and swat them 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, 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 a gog, I am a ghast Is Marius in love at last? I've never seen him, ooh, and ah You talk of battles to be won And here he comes like Don Juan It's better than an opera 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, 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 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 towards 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