Ca ira

Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 2: Beaugency to Cataract, p. 624

Ca ira ('It will go on!'), a popular song which arose in the fever of the French Revolution, so named from its refrain:

Ah! ça ira, ça ira, ça ira!
Les aristocrates à la lanterne!

Like the Marseillaise, the Carmagnole, and the Chant du Départ, it became a French national song, and was styled the Carillon National. The words, which are worthless rubbish enough, were due to a street singer named Ladré; the melody to Bécourt, a stage-drummer. The song was prohibited by the Directory in 1797.

Source scan(s): p. 0637