Eva and Magaldi / Eva, Beware of the City Lyrics - Evita

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Early in Evita, this triptych moves like a short film. Magaldi croons a serenade that borrows tango lilt and bolero romance; Che heckles from the margins; Eva switches keys and gears, aiming straight for the capital. I hear three textures: a guitar-led sway for Magaldi’s old-world charm, brisk commentary for Che, then a brisker, street-lit pulse for Eva’s hunger. The collage makes a clear point - nostalgia fades fast when ambition hits oxygen.

Highlights - Key takeaways:

• Magaldi’s serenade sets up a glittering promise; Eva answers with propulsion, not patience.
• Che’s asides keep puncturing the fantasy, so romance lands with a raised eyebrow.
• The sequence plants the core tension of the musical - mythmaking vs. survival tactics.

Creation History

First heard on the 1976 concept album with Tony Christie, Julie Covington and Colm Wilkinson, the number was re-recorded by the 1979 Broadway cast - Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin and Mark Syers - for the Premiere American Recording on MCA. Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice produced that studio set, tracked in mid-1979, just as the Broadway run began. The lyric received tweaks for the 1996 film, where Jimmy Nail sings Magaldi opposite Madonna.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Che frames the scene like a street-corner historian, introducing Eva Duarte as a teenager with nothing but drive. Magaldi, a touring tango singer, serenades in Junín. Eva hears more than romance - she hears a ride to Buenos Aires. Friends and family apply pressure; Magaldi blusters; Che mocks. In the final third, the tone hardens. Eva decides the province is over. She will go to the city, with or without a gentleman escort.

Song Meaning

It’s a mythic origin story - and a debate about who owns the myth. Magaldi sings yearning. Che provides a running skepticism. Eva claims the narrative and makes it transactional: attention, transport, opportunity. The message sits in the friction - glamour promises belonging, but big cities demand a price. Mood swings from candlelit to confrontational. Context matters too: the score leans into Argentina’s dance DNA while keeping rock-theatre bite, so desire and danger stay in the same room.

Annotations

“No class”

Modern revivals and the 1996 film often swap this to “no cash,” nudging the portrait toward poverty rather than pedigree.

“There was nowhere she’d been at the age of fifteen… Agustín Magaldi!”

Eva grew up in Los Toldos, then Junín. The show places Magaldi as the man who “helps” her to the capital, though historians argue that link is shaky at best.

[MAGALDI]

Agustín Magaldi was a popular tango and milonga singer of the era. The musical makes him Eva’s springboard; the historical record stays ambivalent.

“But this is Junín… If this were Buenos Aires I’d have that town at my feet”

Local legend insists Magaldi performed in Junín. Biographers note there’s no concrete evidence of that engagement.

“I wanna be a part of B.A. - Buenos Aires, big apple”

Wordplay at work. Outsiders say “B.A.” like “L.A.” Locals prefer “Baires” or just “Capital.” Eva weaponizes the slogan - aspiration packaged for export.

“It’s happened at last… I’m moving out with my man”

Another contested bit of lore. Some sources say Eva traveled with her mother to the city; the Magaldi elopement makes faster theatre.

“Why don’t you be the man who discovered her? You’ll never be remembered for your voice”

A sly wink from Che - a reminder that narrative can immortalize someone more than talent does.

“My father’s other family were middle class… Hidden from view at his funeral”

The lyric sketches the class wound that drives Eva - the sense of being literally ushered out of the room.

“Those who are fools are swallowed up whole… they go bad”

Che and Magaldi warn of a city that reshapes everyone. Eva hears a dare.

“Birds fly out of here… why can’t I?”

A faint echo of another heroine dreaming about elsewhere. Different hemisphere, same engine.

“Five years from now, I shall come back”

History undercuts the boast. Magaldi died in 1938. Even in fiction, time has limits.

“Not very much more than a child”

The show doesn’t let us forget Eva’s age in this scene - youth meeting a machine that doesn’t slow down.

Style and instrumentation

Tango and milonga colors dominate Magaldi’s verse - guitar, danceable triplets, a suave crooner’s line - then the orchestration tightens for Che’s patter and Eva’s staccato chants. The Latin pulse meets rock-theatre drive, a signature of the score’s hybrid vocabulary.

Emotional arc

Begin with silky promise, swerve to public jeers, end in defiance. By the last refrain, Eva isn’t waiting for rescue. She’s writing her ticket.

Key Facts

• Artist: Mark Syers, Patti LuPone, Mandy Patinkin with the Original Broadway Cast of Evita
• Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
• Lyricist: Tim Rice
• Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
• Release Date: September 1979
• Album: Evita (Original Cast Recording) - also styled Evita: Premiere American Recording
• Label: MCA Records
• Genre: Pop, rock, musical theatre with tango/milonga inflections
• Instruments: voice, guitars, orchestral strings, woodwinds, brass, percussion
• Language: English
• Mood: seductive to confrontational
• Track #: 3 (Disc 1 configuration on most releases)
• Music style: Latin-rhythm pastiche fused to late 70s rock orchestra
• Poetic meter: mixed - lyric parlando for Che, regular triple feel for Magaldi’s serenade

Questions and Answers

Who produced “On This Night of a Thousand Stars / Eva and Magaldi / Eva Beware of the City”?

Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.

When was this recording released?

September 1979, aligned with the Broadway opening.

Who wrote the music and lyrics?

Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice.

Where was the number first recorded before Broadway?

On the 1976 studio concept album, sung by Tony Christie, Julie Covington and Colm Wilkinson.

How did the sequence change in the 1996 film?

Jimmy Nail performs Magaldi, and several lines were adjusted, including the opening Che quip shifting to “no cash.”

Awards and Chart Positions

The specific track did not chart as a single, but the production and its recordings did the heavy lifting:

• Tony Awards 1980: Best Musical, Best Original Score, Best Book of a Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Patti LuPone), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Mandy Patinkin), Best Direction of a Musical (Harold Prince), Best Lighting Design (David Hersey).
• Grammy Awards 1981: Best Cast Show Album for the American Premiere Recording.
• Film linkage: The 1996 movie adaptation won the Academy Award and Golden Globe for Best Original Song for “You Must Love Me,” and multiple Globes including Best Actress for Madonna.

Additional Info

• Lineage: The number appears in Act 1 after “Oh What a Circus,” then hands momentum to “Buenos Aires.”
• Screen version sound: The film relocates and reshapes lines to suit montage, while keeping the core structure of serenade, warning, and decision.
• Casting footprint: Broadway’s original Magaldi was Mark Syers; the concept album used Tony Christie; the film tapped Jimmy Nail.
• Staging note: In many stagings, the “Friends” ensemble functions as Eva’s family, applying small-town pressure that speeds the plot.