MARIE THERESE Madame Antoine, Madame Antoine It’s getting dark outside It’s time to come in
MADAME ANTOINE Oh Mother!
MARIE THERESE
Madame Antoine, it’s time to come in
MADAME ANTOINE Yes, yes Mother, I’m coming One day... One day I’ll be queen Live on peaches and cream Wear satin and lace And laugh in the faces Of the teachers and priests And the boys will all fawn Fawn before me like beasts Fa la la, Fa la la la...
MARIE THERESE Madame Antoine, it’s time to come in
HONEST BIRD Little princess, so sure you are right Your endless day is their endless night
You can preen in the limelight In your diamonds and pearls But the children go hungry In that other world
MARIE THERESE Madame Antoine, it’s time to come in
MADAME ANTOINE Little sparrow fly back to where ever you’re from You could never imagine the plane I live on The intricate steps of the tumblers and clowns Are above and beyond you cock robin So just you pipe down
The Ringmaster returns to the ring and the place and time shifts to France some years before the revolution. He describes and explains the country’s social and political situation by using the extended conceit of a small bird that is prevented from singing freely by an arbitrary authority whose violence towards the bird is encouraged by all the agents of the state (priests, soldiers, and judges). Briefly and simply, the Ringmaster alludes to both the causes and the eventual outcome of revolutionary action. One day, he says, more enlightened representatives of the state will be in place that will allow the bird to fulfill itself and sing. This, he says, will be the true revolutionary achievement.