Randy Newman - The Great Nations of Europe lyrics

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 the 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 Portugese, 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 the 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 Diptheria 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 a 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 everyone as even I can see But there on the horizon as a possiblity 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