On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada Lyrics
On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada
[Peron has just won a sweeping victory in the 1946 Presidential][election. This is the first public appearance by Peron and Eva]
[since that triumph.]
[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 ...
Song Overview
Review and Highlights
I hear this track as the hinge of Evita: a sober political rally that opens into the show’s most recognizable aria. It starts with pageantry - chants, brass, drum tattoos - then pivots to a slow-build address where Eva steps onto the balcony and calibrates her myth in real time. The arrangement keeps tightening the lens: speech fragments, crowd interjections, a hush, then that melody. The medley format does the heavy lifting of context, so when the chorus lands, it feels earned rather than ornamental.
Highlights
- Orchestration as propaganda - snare, trumpets, and crowd cues stage a rally before any melody has to persuade.
- Melodic lift - the tune ascends by step and then opens into wider intervals, mirroring Eva’s shift from humility to command.
- Lyric masks - platitudes that sound intimate but keep politics close at hand; it’s a love song to a nation framed as personal confession.
- Cast chemistry - Perón’s declamation, Che’s barbs, and the Heavies all sharpen the scene, so Eva’s entry reads like a counterargument.
Creation History
Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice first built Evita as a 1976 concept album; the stage premiere followed in London in 1978 and on Broadway in 1979. “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” had already proven itself as a hit single by then, so the Broadway cast medley stitches the balcony scene to that anthem, preserving the political framing while giving the star her showstopper. The American premiere cast album was produced by the authors themselves, recorded in mid-1979, and released by MCA Records.
Song Meaning and Annotations
Plot
Perón introduces himself as the people’s champion; the square detonates with chants. Che needles the spectacle while the regime’s muscle keeps order. Eva steps forward and reframes her ascent as the story of a girl who “had to change” - a personal journey, spun as devotion. The crowd echoes her refrain. Inside, her advisors bristle; outside, the chants canonize her. She returns to the balcony to promise the redistribution of riches and to declare unity with the descamisados. Adoration secured, the scene closes not with policy but with theatre: the voice of Argentina, sung back to her.
Song Meaning
The lyric crafts a strategic intimacy. Eva denies chasing fortune and fame even as she’s wearing them; she asks for love while directing it. The mood starts ceremonial, turns confessional, then swells into collective release. Context matters: the melody is the same one Che twists into “Oh What a Circus,” so sincerity here always has a question mark. The message is double-coded - reassurance to the masses, manifesto for a personal brand.
Annotations
“We are all shirtless now!”
A wry gloss on Perón’s base - the descamisados - reframed as universal identity. Some productions swap in “workers” to soften the class bite.
“As a mere observer of this tasteless phenomenon / One has to admire the stage management.”
Che’s meta-commentary lands: movements don’t run on charisma alone; unseen labor props up the spectacle.
“Look, if I take off my shirt, will you—”
He’s daring the heavies to accept allegiance as costume. The show keeps interrupting his critique with force.
“At sixes and sevens”
Eva names the disarray she’s stepping out of; the phrase keeps her relatable even as she ascends.
“Down at heel”
Another colloquialism that paints rags-to-power without specifics. The diction is built for mass empathy.
“And as for fortune, and as for fame… They are illusions”
She disavows ambition while wielding it. The line reads like image management - a promise that the glamour is for you, not her.
“Evita Perón! La Santa Peronista!”
Religious language bleeds into politics. The balcony becomes a pulpit; the crowd grants sainthood by chant.
Style and setting
The scene fuses march rhythms, fanfare brass, and orchestral pop. The emotional arc starts in massed unison, narrows into confessional verse, then opens wide in the chorus. Culturally, it mirrors mid-century broadcast politics: a leader uses radio-friendly rhetoric and melody to nationalize personal narrative.
Symbols and phrasing
- Balcony - power’s balcony as theatre box; distance curated, not accidental.
- “The truth is I never left you” - a paradox that binds absence and presence; a politician’s version of “I was always here.”
- “Don’t keep your distance” - an invitation that also secures control. Closeness as leverage.
Key Facts
- Artist: Patti LuPone, Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice (Original Broadway company performance)
- Composer: Andrew Lloyd Webber
- Lyricist: Tim Rice
- Producer: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
- Release Date: September 1979
- Album: Evita (Original Cast Recording)
- Label: MCA Records
- Length: 9:34 (medley)
- Language: English
- Genre: Musical theatre, orchestral pop
- Instruments: vocals, orchestra (strings, brass, woodwinds), drum kit, electric bass, keys
- Music style: march-inflected prelude into lyrical ballad; crowd-and-solo interplay
Questions and Answers
- Who produced “On the Balcony of the Casa Rosada / Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” on the Original Broadway Cast album?
- Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice.
- When did Patti LuPone release this medley on record?
- 1979, on the American premiere cast album of Evita.
- Who wrote it?
- Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber, lyrics by Tim Rice.
- Was this Broadway cast version issued as a single?
- No. The breakout single history belongs to Julie Covington’s 1976 recording, and later to Madonna’s 1996 film version.
- Which versions made the biggest chart noise?
- Julie Covington hit number 1 in the UK in 1976; Madonna’s film version reached the US Top 10 and went Top 3 in the UK.
Awards and Chart Positions
- Tony Awards 1980: Evita won Best Musical, Best Original Score (Lloyd Webber/Rice), Best Book of a Musical (Rice), Best Actress in a Musical (Patti LuPone), Best Featured Actor in a Musical (Mandy Patinkin), Best Direction of a Musical (Harold Prince), and Best Lighting Design (David Hersey).
- Grammy Awards 1981: Evita - Premiere American Recording won Best Cast Show Album.
- Key single history of the song: Julie Covington’s 1976 single reached UK No. 1; Madonna’s 1996 film single peaked at US No. 8, UK No. 3, topped France, and hit No. 1 on Billboard’s Dance chart via the “Miami Mix”.
Additional Info
- “On the Balcony…” on the Broadway cast album opens the second disc as a medley, preserving the rally-to-aria arc that frames Eva’s appeal as statecraft.
- Notable covers surround the Broadway version: Elaine Paige (1978 London cast), the Carpenters on Passage (paired with the balcony lead-in), and Olivia Newton-John’s 1977 single take.
- The 1996 film adaptation drives the song back into global charts; its new number “You Must Love Me” won the Academy Award for Best Original Song.
- Recent productions keep reimagining the balcony. A 2025 West End revival staged the number on an exterior balcony, explicitly playing with public space and access.