Great Nations Of Europe

Album: Bad Love (1999)
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  • The great nations of Europe
    Had gathered on the shore
    They'd conquered what was behind them
    And now they wanted more
    So they looked to the mighty ocean
    And took to the western sea
    The great nations of Europe in the sixteenth century

    Hide your wives and daughters
    Hide your groceries too
    Great nations of Europe coming through

    The Grand Canary Islands
    First land to which they came
    They slaughtered all the canaries
    Which gave the land its name
    There were natives there called Guanches
    Guanches by the score
    Bullets, disease, the Portuguese, and they weren't there anymore
    Now they're gone, they're gone, they're really gone
    You've never seen anyone so gone
    They're a picture in a museum
    Some lines written in a book
    But you won't find a live one no matter where you look

    Hide your wives and daughters
    Hide your groceries too
    Great nations of Europe coming through

    Columbus sailed for India
    Found Salvador instead
    He shook hands with some Indians and soon they all were dead
    They got TB and typhoid and athlete's foot
    Diphtheria and the flu
    Excuse me great nations coming through!

    Balboa found the Pacific
    And on the trail one day
    He met some friendly Indians
    Whom he was told were gay
    So he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say
    The great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way
    Now they're gone, they're gone, they're really gone
    You've never seen anyone so gone
    Some bones hidden in the canyon
    Some paintings in a cave
    There's no use trying to save them
    There's nothing left to save

    Hide your wives and daughters
    Hide your sons as well
    With the great nations of Europe you never can tell

    From where you and I are standing
    At the end of a century
    Europes have sprung up everywhere as even I can see
    But there on the horizon as a possibility
    Some bug from out of Africa might come for you and me
    Destroying everything in its path
    From sea to shining sea
    Like the great nations of Europe
    In the sixteenth century Writer/s: RANDY NEWMAN
    Publisher: Universal Music Publishing Group
    Lyrics licensed and provided by LyricFind

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