Requiem for Evita / Oh What a Circus Lyrics
Requiem for Evita / Oh What a Circus
REQUIEM FOR EVITA[Crowd:]
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem Evita, Requiem Evita
Evita, Evita, Evita, Evita
Grant eternal rest to Evita
Grant eternal rest to Evita
Rest to Evita, Rest to Evita
Evita, Evita, Evita, Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem aeternum dona Evita
Requiem Evita, Requiem Evita
Evita, Evita, Evita, Evita
OH WHAT A CIRCUS
[Che:]
Oh what a circus, oh what a show
Argentina has gone to town
Over the death of an actress called Eva Peron
We've all gone crazy
Mourning all day and mourning all night
Falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right
Oh what an exit, that's how to go
When they're ringing your curtain down
Demand to be buried like Eva Peron
It's quite a sunset
And good for the country in a roundabout way
We've made the front page of all the world's papers today
But who is this Santa Evita?
Why all this howling, hysterical sorrow?
What kind of goddess has lived among us?
How will we ever get by without her?
She had her moments, she had some style
The best show in town was the crowd
Outside the Casa Rosada crying, "Eva Peron"
But that's all gone now
As soon as the smoke from the funeral clears
We're all gonna see and how, she did nothing for years
[Crowd:]
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve salve regina
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens o pia
Hail, oh queen, mother of mercy
Our life, sweetness, and hope
Hail, hail, oh queen
To you we cry, exiled sons of Eve
To you we sigh, mourning and weeping
Oh clement, oh loving one
[Che:]
You let down your people Evita
You were supposed to have been immortal
That's all they wanted, not much to ask for
But in the end you could not deliver
Sing you fools, but you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
And she's not coming back to you
Show business kept us all alive
Since seventeen October 1945
But the star has gone, the glamour's worn thin
That's a pretty bad state for a state to be in
Instead of government we had a stage
Instead of ideas, a prima donna's rage
Instead of help we were given a crowd
She didn't say much, but she said it loud
Sing you fools, but you got it wrong
Enjoy your prayers because you haven't got long
Your queen is dead, your king is through
She's not coming back to you
[Crowd:]
Salve regina mater misericordiae
Vita dulcedo et spes nostra
Salve salve regina Peron
Ad te clamamus exules filii Eva
Ad te suspiramus gementes et flentes
O clemens o pia
[Eva:]
Don't cry for me Argentina
For I am ordinary, unimportant
And undeserving of such attention
Unless we all are, I think we all are
So share my glory, so share my coffin
So share my glory, so share my coffin
[Che:]
It's our funeral too
Song Overview

Song Credits
- Composers: Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice
- Lyricist: Tim Rice
- Featured Vocals: Mandy Patinkin (Che), Patti LuPone (Eva Perón), company chorus
- Producers: Andrew Lloyd Webber, Tim Rice
- Release Date: September 25, 1979 (U.S. cast LP)
- Genre: Theatrical rock opera with liturgical overtones
- Instruments: Pipe organ, electric guitars, bass, drum kit, Latin percussion, brass, massed choir, strings
- Label: MCA Records
- Album: Evita (Original Cast Recording)
- Track #: 2
- Length: ~7 min 30 sec
- Language: English & Ecclesiastical Latin
- Mood: Sardonic, ceremonial, razor-sharp
- Recording Studio: RCA Studios, New York City
- Copyright © 1979 The Really Useful Group Ltd. / Ensign Music Ltd.
Song Meaning and Annotations

The curtain has barely risen when “Requiem for Evita / Oh What a Circus” drops like a cathedral bell. A stark, Gregorian-flavoured chorus intones “Requiem aeternum dona Evita”; incense seems to gust straight from the speakers. Then—crack!—guitar and snare kick in, and Che bursts through the clouds with a sneer: “O what a circus!” The sudden pivot from requiem mass to rock cabaret is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s way of telling us we’re in for sacred and profane in the same breath.
I love how Mandy Patinkin’s Che struts over syncopated Latin percussion, dissecting Argentina’s grief as if filing a tabloid report. Tim Rice’s lyric juggles dark humour (“falling over ourselves to get all of the misery right”) with biting political commentary; the crowd becomes both chorus and accomplice. Underneath, a walking bass stalks like a procession bearer whose patience is running thin.
“Instead of government we had a stage / Instead of ideas a prima donna’s rage”
That couplet lands harder than a gavel. Rice paints the Perón era as theatre—glitter without policy—and Che’s punk-ish delivery nails the indictment. Notice Webber’s muted trumpet hits on “rage”; they feel like eye-rolls rendered in brass.
Structure & Sonic Palette
The composition splits almost exactly down the middle. Part A (the Requiem) is modal, Lydian-coloured, anchored by choir and tubular bells—echoes of Verdi’s Requiem. Part B (Oh What a Circus) sails into straight 4/4 rock with claves tapping a subtle tango accent. The transition is bridged by a dissonant organ chord—like a cathedral door slamming behind a carnival barker.
Narrative Function
Within the show, this number serves as both obituary and thesis statement. Che, our omnipresent commentator, frames Eva’s death as spectacle marketing—funeral as press release. The “Santa Evita” questions (“What kind of goddess has lived among us?”) plant seeds of doubt that blossom throughout the score.
Hidden Textures
Listen for the sly bass-guitar slide under “good for the country in a roundabout way”; it’s a musical shrug. Later, when the crowd shifts to “Salve Regina”, a solo violin quotes “Don’t Cry for Me Argentina” in half-time—foreshadowing the anthem we haven’t yet heard.
Similar Songs

- “The Ballad of Sweeney Todd” – Stephen Sondheim
Both tracks open their respective shows with choral menace, establishing tone before the leads enter. Sondheim’s sailors chant doom in Aeolian minor; Webber’s mourners chant Latin in Lydian light, only to be undercut by Che’s sarcasm. Each piece uses repetitive motifs (Sweeney’s hammering “Swing your razor wide” / Che’s recurring “Sing you fools!”) to drill theme into audience memory. Rhythmically, both zip between solemn processional and punchy theatrical rock. Finally, they share a narrator-outside-the-story perspective, daring us to judge the anti-hero before curtain two even rises. - “Alexander Hamilton” – Lin-Manuel Miranda
Miranda’s opener weaves biography through hip-hop cadence, just as Rice distills Eva’s aftermath through rock patter. Both numbers juggle ensemble interjections with a lone narrator (Burr / Che) who questions legacy. Harmonic progressions climb stepwise to an unresolved tension, reflecting the historical intrigue at play. And both songs function as marketing sizzle reels—come for the beat, stay for the politics. - “Funeral for a Friend/Love Lies Bleeding” – Elton John
Webber often cites Elton’s piano-rock epics as inspiration, and you can hear it: extended instrumental preambles, sudden meter shifts, guitar-organ duels. Both tracks juxtapose dirge-like openings with swaggering rock codas, turning mourning into arena anthem. Even the organ timbre in Webber’s intro echoes the ARP synthesizer swell in Elton’s 1973 suite.
Questions and Answers

- Why does the song toggle between Latin and English?
- The Latin mass roots Eva in sainthood spectacle, while Che’s English commentary drags the ritual back to street level, creating dramatic irony.
- Is Che really Ernesto “Che” Guevara?
- The book writers nodded to Guevara’s rebellious aura, but this Che is more narrative device—an omniscient everyman with revolutionary seasoning.
- What key changes drive the drama?
- The Requiem sits in E-flat Lydian; “Oh What a Circus” pivots to A-minor, then modulates up a whole step for each verse, ratcheting tension like news headlines escalating.
- How high does Che have to sing?
- Mandy Patinkin vaults to a sustained B-flat4 on “that’s how to go,” a heroic belt that still scares many a baritenor at auditions.
- What’s the percussion doing under the chorus?
- Subtle bongos and chachas pulse a slow tango, hinting at Argentina’s dance DNA even in a funeral march.
Awards and Chart Positions
The Evita Broadway album snagged the 1980 Grammy for Best Cast Show Album. While “Requiem for Evita / Oh What a Circus” never charted as a single, the full LP climbed to No. 19 on the Billboard 200, a rare feat for a theatre release. The song also opened the 1980 Tony telecast, cementing its reputation as a curtain-raiser par excellence.
Fan and Media Reactions
“Patinkin’s first ‘O what a show’ hits harder than espresso—instant gooseflesh.” @BroadwayBuzzard
“That Latin chant over rock guitar feels like church colliding with CBGBs. Sublime chaos.” @AltMusicPriest
“LuPone’s offstage ghost vocal gives me chills—she’s already haunting the plot before she enters.” @CastRecordingJunkie
“Webber’s pipe-organ intro should score every dramatic weather report from now on.” @StormTrackerSam
“I play this at house parties; people decide between dancing and debating politics—perfect.” @VinylSpins
Critics hail the track as one of theatre’s smartest prologues. Listeners stream it on loop when craving a dose of spectacle-plus-skepticism—a reminder that even grand funerals can hide punchlines in the pews.