Original Broadway Cast of Evita
Requiem for Evita / Oh What a Circus
[CROWD]
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem Evita, requiem Evita
Evita, Evita, Evita, Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem Evita, requiem Evita
Evita, Evita, Evita, Evita
[CHE]
O what a circus! O what a show
Argentina has gone to town
Over the death of an actress called Eva Perón
We've all gone crazy
Mourning all day and mourning all night
Falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right
O what an exit! That's how to go
When they're ringing your curtain down
Demand to be buried like Eva Perón
It's quite a sunset
And good for the country in a roundabout way
We've made the front page of all the world's papers today
But who is this Santa Evita?
Why all this howling hysterical sorrow?
What kind of goddess has lived among us?
How will we ever get by without her?
She had her moments—she had some style
The best show in town was the crowd
Outside the Casa Rosada crying "Eva Perón"
But that's all gone now
As soon as the smoke from the funeral clears
We're all gonna see how she did nothing for years
[CROWD]
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve, salve regina
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
[CHE]
You let down your people, Evita
You were supposed to have been immortal
That's all they wanted, not much to ask for
But in the end you could not deliver
Sing you fools! But you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
She's not coming back to you
Show business kept us all alive
Since 17 October 1945
But the star has gone, the glamour's worn thin
That's a pretty bad state for a state to be in
Instead of government we had a stage
Instead of ideas a prima donna's rage
Instead of help we were given a crowd
She didn't say much but she said it loud
And who am I who dares to keep
His head held high while millions weep
Why the exception to the rule
Opportunist, traitor, fool
Or just a man who grew and saw
From seventeen to twenty-four
His country bled, crucified
She's not the only one who's died
Sing you fools! But you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
She's not coming back to you
[CROWD]
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve, salve regina Perón
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens O pia
[THE VOICE OF EVA]
Don't cry for me, Argentina
For I am ordinary, unimportant
And undeserving
Of such attention
Unless we all are—
I think we all are
Ride on my train O my people
And when it's your turn to die, you'll remember
They fired those cannons
Sang lamentations
Not just for Eva
For Argentina
Not just for Eva
For everybody
So share my glory
So share my coffin
So share my glory
So share my coffin
[CHE]
It's our funeral, too