Madonna lyrics

[Eva:]
The choice was mine, and mine completely
I could have any prize that I desired
I could burn with the splendor of the brightest fire
Or else, or else I could choose time

Remember I was very young then
And a year was forever and a day
So what use could fifty, sixty, seventy be?
I saw the lights, and I was on my way

And how I lived, how they shone
But how soon the lights were gone

[Che:]
The choice was yours and noone else's
You can cry for a body in despair
Hang your head because she is no longer there
To shine, to dazzle, or betray
How she lived, how she shone

[Choir:]

Respice, quaesumus, Domine
Famulam tuam Evita
In infirmitate
Et animam refove, quam creasti
Ut castigationibus emendata
Se tua sentiat medicina salvatam
Per Christum, Dominuum
Qui vivit et regnat
Per omnia saecula saeculorum
Amen
Look with favor, we beseech Thee, Oh Lord
Upon Thy handmaid Evita
In her weakness
And refresh the soul which Thou hast created
That being corrected by Thy chastisement
She may find herself cured by Thy healing
Through Christ, Our Lord
Who lives and reigns
Forever and ever
Amen

[Che:]

[Eva:]
The actress hasn't learned the lines you'd like to hear
She's sad for her country, sad to be defeated
By her own weak body

[Crowds:]
(Evita! Evita!) [repeat in background]

I want to tell the people of Argentina
I've decided I should decline
All the honors and titles you've pressed me to take
For I'm contented
Let me simply go on as the woman who brings her people
To the heart of Peron

Don't cry for me Argentina
The truth is I shall not leave you
Though it may get harder for you to see me
I'm Argentina, and always will be

Have I said too much?

Where do we go from here?
This isn't where we intended to be
We had it all, you believed in me
I believed in you

Certainties disappear
What do we do for our dream to survive?
How do we keep all our passions alive,
As we used to do?

[Bridge:]

Deep in my heart I'm concealing
Things that I'm longing to say
Scared to confess what I'm feeling
Frightened you'll slip away

[Chorus:]

You must love me
You must love me

Why are you at my side?
How can I be any use to you now?
Give me a chance and I'll let you see how
Nothing has changed

[bridge]
[chorus]

[Peron:]
Your little body's slowly breaking down
You're losing speed, you're losing strength, not style
That goes on flourishing forever
But your eyes, your smile
Do not have the sparkle of your fantastic past
If you climb one more mountain it could be your last

[Eva:]
I'm not that ill, bad moments come but they go
Some days are fine, some a little bit harder
But that doesn't mean we should give up our dream
Have you ever seen me defeated?
Don't you forget what I've been through and yet
I'm still standing

[Peron:]
Eva, you are dying

[Eva:]
So what happens now?

[Che:]
Tell me before I waltz out of your life
Before turning my back on the past
Forgive my impertinent behavior
But how long do you think this pantomime can last?
Tell me before I ride off in the sunset
There's one thing I never got clear
How can you claim you're our savior
When those who oppose you are stepped on,
Or cut up, or simply disappear?

[Eva:]
Tell me before you get onto your bus
Before joining the forgotten brigade
How can one person like me, say,
Alter the time-honored way the game is played?
Tell me before you get onto your high horse

[Children:]
Please, gentle Eva, will you bless a little child?
For I love you, tell Heaven I'm doing my best
I'm praying for you, even though you're already blessed

Please, mother Eva, will you look upon me as your own?
Make me special, be my angel
Be my everything wonderful perfect and true
And I'll try to be exactly like you

Please, holy Eva, will you feed a hungry child?
For I love you, tell Heaven I'm doing my best
I'm praying for you, even though you're already blessed

Please, mother Eva, will you feed a hungry child?
For I love you ([Che:] Turn a blind eye, Evita)

[Peron:]
But on the other hand, she's all they have
She's a diamond in their dull gray lives
And that's the hardest kind of stone
It usually survives
And when you think about it, can you recall
The last time they loved anyone at all?

She's not a bauble you can brush aside
She's been out doing what we just talked about, example
Gave us back our businesses, got the English out
And when you think about it, well why not do
One or two of the things we promised to?

But on the other hand, she's slowing down
She's lost a little of that magic drive

[Crowd:]
(Evita Peron, Partido Feminista) [repeat in background]

[Eva:]
Peron is everything, he is the soul, the nerve
The hope and the reality of the Argentine people
We all know that there is only one man in our movement
With his own source of light
We all feed from his light, and that is Peron

[Che:]
And now she wants to be vice-president

[Officers:]
That was the over-the-top, unacceptable suggestion
We didn't approve but we couldn't prevent
The games of the wife of the president
But to give her pretensions encouragement
She's out of her depth, and out of the question

[Che:]
And the money kept rolling in from every side
Eva's pretty hands reached out and they reached wide
Now you may feel it should have been a voluntary cause
But that's not the point my friends
When the money keeps rolling in, you don't ask how
Think of all the people guaranteed a good time now
Eva's called the hungry to her, open up the doors
Never been a fund like the Foundation Eva Peron

[Chorus:]

[Workers:]
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'
Rollin' rollin' rollin', rollin' rollin' rollin'

[Peron:]
People of Europe, I send you the Rainbow of Argentina

[Che:]
Spain has fallen to the charms of Evita
She can do what she likes, it doesn't matter much
[Aide #1:]
She's our lady of the new world with a golden touch
[Aide #2:]
She filled a bull-ring, forty-five thousand seater
[Che:]
But if you're prettier than General Franco, that's not hard

[Aide #1:]
Franco's reign in Spain should see out the forties
So you've just acquired an ally who
Looks as secure in his job as you
[Aide #2:]
But more important current political thought is

[Eva:]
There again I've more to do
Than simply get the message through
I haven't started
Let's get this show on the road
Let's make it obvious
Peron is off and rolling

[Chorus:]

[Eva's dressers:]
Eyes, hair, mouth, figure
Dress, voice, style, movement
Hands, magic, rings, glamour
Face, diamonds, excitement, image

[Eva:]
I came from the people, they need to adore me
So Christian Dior me from my head to my toes
I need to be dazzling, I want to be Rainbow High
They must have excitement, and so must I

[Eva's dressers:]
Eyes, hair, mouth, figure

[Che:]
High flying, adored
So young, the instant queen
A rich beautiful thing, of all the talents
A cross between a fantasy of the bedroom and a saint
You were just a backstreet girl
Hustling and fighting, scratching and biting

High flying, adored
Did you believe in your wildest moments
All this would be yours
That you'd become the lady of them all?

Were there stars in your eyes
When you crawled in at night
From the bars, from the sidewalks
From the gutter theatrical
Don't look down, it's a long, long way to fall

High flying, adored

[Eva:]
Just listen to that, the voice of Argentina
We are adored, we are loved

[Officer:]
Statesmanship is more than entertaining peasants

[Eva's sister:]
We shall see little man

[Crowd:]
(Evita Peron, La Santa Peronista ... )

[Eva:]
I am only a simple woman
Who lives to serve Peron in his noble crusade
To rescue his people
I was once as you are now, and I promise you this
We will take the riches from the obligarchs
Only for you, for all of you
And one day, you too will inherit these treasures
Descamisados, mis companeros

[Eva:]
It won't be easy, you'll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I've done

You won't believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she's dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you

I had to let it happen, I had to change
Couldn't stay all my life down at heel
Looking out of the window, staying out of the sun

So I chose freedom
Running around, trying everything new
But nothing impressed me at all
I never expected it to

[Chorus:]

Don't cry for me Argentina

[Announcer:]
People of Argentina
Your newly elected President, Juan Peron

[Crowd chanting:]
(Peron Peron ... )

[Peron:]
Argentinos, Argentinos
We are all workers now
Fighting against our common enemies
Poverty, social injustice
Foreign domination of our industries
Reaching for our common goals
Our independence, our dignity, our pride

Let the world know that our great nation is awakening
And that its heart beats in the humble bodies
Of Juan Peron and his wife
The first lady of Argentina, Eva Duarte de Peron

[Crowd chanting:]
(Evita Evita ... )

[Peron:]
Dice are rolling, the knives are out
Would-be presidents are all around
I don't say they mean harm
But they'd each give an arm
To see us six feet underground

[Eva:]
It doesn't matter what those morons say
Our nation's leaders are a feeble crew
There's only twenty of them anyway
What is twenty next to millions who
Are looking to you?

All you have to do is sit and wait
Keeping out of everybody's way
We'll ... you'll be handed power on a plate
When the ones who matter have their say
And with chaos installed
You can reluctantly agree to be called

[Peron:]

[Che:] At the watering holes of the well-to-do
I detect a resistance to
[Aristocrats:] Precisely
[Che:] Our heroine's style
[Aristocrats:] We're glad you noticed

[Che:] The shooting sticks of the upper-class
[Aristocrats:] Give her an inch
[Che:] Aren't supporting a single ass
That would rise for the girl
[Aristocrats:] She'll take a mile

[Aristocrats:]
Such a shame she wandered into our enclosure
How unfortunate this person has forced us to be blunt
No we wouldn't mind seeing her at Harrod's
But behind the jewelry counter, not in front

[Eva:]
Hello and goodbye, I just unemployed you
You can go back to school
You've had a good run, I'm sure he enjoyed you
Don't act sad or surprised, let's be friends, civilized

Come on little one, don't sit there like a dummy
The day you knew would arrive is here, you'll survive
So move, funny face

I like your conversation, you've a catchy turn of phrase
You're obviously going through some adolescent phase

[Mistress:]
So what happens now?
So what happens now?
Where am I going to?
[Peron:] You'll get by, you always have before
[Mistress:] Where am I going to?

[Eva:] Colonel Peron
[Peron:] Eva Duarte

[Eva and Peron:]
I've heard so much about you

[Eva and Peron:]
I'm amazed, for I'm only an actress (a soldier)
Nothing to shout about (One of the thousands)
Only a girl on the air (Defending the country he loves)

[Eva:]
But when you act, the things you do affect us all

[Peron:]
But when you act, you take us away from the squalor of the real world
Are you here on your own?

[Eva:]
Yes, oh yes

[Peron:]
So am I, what a fortunate coincidence
Maybe you're my reward for my efforts here tonight

[Eva:]