"ÃÂa ira" (; French for "It'll be fine") is an emblematic song of the French Revolution, first heard in May 1790. It underwent several changes in wording, all of which used the title words as part of the refrain.
The original words "" were written by Ladré, a former soldier who made a living as a street singer.
The music is a popular contredanse air called "Le carillon national", and was composed by , a violinist (according to other sources: side drum player) of the . Queen Marie Antoinette herself is said to have often played the music on her harpsichord.
The title and theme of the refrain were inspired by Benjamin Franklin, who was very popular among the French people following his stay as a representative of the Continental Congress from 1776 to 1785. When asked about the American Revolutionary War, he would reportedly reply, in somewhat broken French, "" ("It'll be fine, it'll be fine").
The song first became popular as a worksong during the preparation for the Fête de la Fédération of 1790 and eventually became recognized as an unofficial anthem of revolutionaries.
Source
At later stages of the revolution, many sans-culottes used several much more aggressive stanzas, calling for the lynching of the nobility and the clergy.
Source
The song survived past the Reign of Terror. It was forbidden in 1797 under the Directory.
The ship of the line La Couronne was renamed ÃÂa Ira in 1792 in reference to this song.
At the 1793 Battle of Famars, the 14th Regiment of Foot (infantry), the West Yorkshire Regiment, attacked the French to the music of "" (the colonel commenting that he would "beat the French to their own damned tune"). The regiment was later awarded the tune as a battle honour and regimental quick march. It has since been adopted by the Yorkshire Regiment.
Friedrich Witt cited this motif in the finale of his Symphony No. 16 in A major; although the year of its completion is unknown, it is clear that it was written in the 1790s.
Carl Schurz, in , of his Reminiscences, reported from exile in England that upon Napoleon III's 1851 French coup d'état, "Our French friends shouted and shrieked and gesticulated and hurled opprobrious names at Louis Napoleon and cursed his helpers, and danced the Carmagnole and sang ."
Russian composer Nikolai Myaskovsky used both "" and La Carmagnole in the finale of his 1923 Symphony No. 6 in E-flat minor Revolutionary.
An alternative "sans-culotte"-like version was sung by ÃÂdith Piaf for the soundtrack of the film Royal Affairs in Versailles (Si Versailles m'était conté) (1954) by Sacha Guitry.
The song is featured in the 1999 television series The Scarlet Pimpernel, starring Richard E. Grant. There the lyrics are sung in English as follows:
The Edith Piaf version is featured in the opening scenes of Ridley Scott's 2023 film Napoleon.
In an opening scene of the novel What Is to Be Done? by Nikolay Chernyshevsky, the protagonist Vera Pavlovna is shown singing a song with ça ira in the refrain, accompanied by a paraphrase outlining the struggle for a socialist utopian future. The 1875 French translator "A.T." produced a four-stanza version on the basis of the paraphrase, which was reproduced in full by Benjamin Tucker in his translation.
The 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony in Paris, France, was titled ÃÂa Ira. As part of the ceremony, heavy metal band Gojira, alongside French-Swiss mezzo-soprano Marina Viotti, played a version of the song. Officially named "Mea Culpa (Ah! ÃÂa ira!)", their performance took place from the windows of the Conciergerie. This rendition of "ÃÂa ira" went on to win the award for Best Metal Performance at the 67th Grammy Awards. They once again performed the song at the 2025 concert Back to the Beginning in Birmingham, England.