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I'd like to say
A few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren't bad
Nor are they mean
Now, the leaders we have
While they're the worst that we've had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen
Take the Caesars, for example
Why, with the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister, stashing little boys in swimming pools, and burning down the city
And one of 'em, one of 'em appointed his own horse to be Consul of the Empire
That's like vice president or something
Now wait a minute, that's not a very good example
Here's one, Spanish Inquisition
Put people in a terrible position
I don't even like to think about it
Well, sometimes I like to think about it
Just a few words
In defense of our country
Whose time at the top
Could be coming to an end
We don't want your love
And respect at this point's pretty much out of the question
But in times like these
We sure could use a friend
Hitler
Stalin
Men who need no introduction
King Leopold of Belgium, that's right
Everyone thinks he's so great
Well, he owned the Congo
And he tore it up too
Took the diamonds
Took the silver
Took the gold
Know what he left 'em with?
Malaria
A President once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic, in fact, and color-coded
And what we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean
You know, it pisses me off a little that this Supreme Court's gonna outlive me
Couple young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world, to find me two Italians as tight-assed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto's not a planet anymore either
The end of an empire
Is messy at best
And this empire's ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada
Adrift on the sea
We're adrift in the land of the brave
And the home of the free
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
A few words
In defense of our country
Whose people aren't bad
Nor are they mean
Now, the leaders we have
While they're the worst that we've had
Are hardly the worst
This poor world has seen
Take the Caesars, for example
Why, with the first few of them
They were sleeping with their sister, stashing little boys in swimming pools, and burning down the city
And one of 'em, one of 'em appointed his own horse to be Consul of the Empire
That's like vice president or something
Now wait a minute, that's not a very good example
Here's one, Spanish Inquisition
Put people in a terrible position
I don't even like to think about it
Well, sometimes I like to think about it
Just a few words
In defense of our country
Whose time at the top
Could be coming to an end
We don't want your love
And respect at this point's pretty much out of the question
But in times like these
We sure could use a friend
Hitler
Stalin
Men who need no introduction
King Leopold of Belgium, that's right
Everyone thinks he's so great
Well, he owned the Congo
And he tore it up too
Took the diamonds
Took the silver
Took the gold
Know what he left 'em with?
Malaria
A President once said, "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself"
Now we're supposed to be afraid
It's patriotic, in fact, and color-coded
And what we supposed to be afraid of?
Why, of being afraid
That's what terror means, doesn't it?
That's what it used to mean
You know, it pisses me off a little that this Supreme Court's gonna outlive me
Couple young Italian fellas and a brother on the Court now too
But I defy you, anywhere in the world, to find me two Italians as tight-assed as the two Italians we got
And as for the brother, well
Pluto's not a planet anymore either
The end of an empire
Is messy at best
And this empire's ending
Like all the rest
Like the Spanish Armada
Adrift on the sea
We're adrift in the land of the brave
And the home of the free
Goodbye
Goodbye
Goodbye
Lyrics submitted by Eamon
Track duration: 04:14
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He's still a pest sometimes, but "hardly the worst this poor world has seen".
Also the USA as a country might have done some terrible things but that does not mean, that the US-Americans as a people are bad or mean.
So when I find myself or a fellow German rant about the USA I listen to this song to ease my mind.
@martinberard: That's the whole point of that line. You think you know worse examples. But you'd be hard pressed to actually name one. Leopold stands for all the European tyrants, we have forgotten.
When Randy says "he owned the Congo", that's not just a figure of speech. The Congo was not a colony of Belgium but of Leopold. And in the 20 years he owned it, he squeezed as much rubber and ivory out of it as possible.
For the Congolese that meant constant slavery, torture, rape and murder.
After 20 years 10 million, half the population had been slaughtered.
I don't want to go into details, because I didn't come here to preach. You can look it up yourself.
"When I came to Europe last, it was a few years ago, I recognized fairly soon that people here didn't like us very much, speaking as a country as I often do, and I understood it, but I wanted to do something to try and explain it, so I wrote this song."
*End Transcript*
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The line that most gives me pause in this song is "And as for the brother, Pluto's not a planet any more either."
What do you suppose he means by that? Is he saying simply that times have changed and so now it's possible for a black man can to serve on the Supreme Court? Or is he saying that , just as the Italians on the Supreme Court are unusually "tight-assed" for a pair of Italians, so too is Clarence Thomas unusually straight-laced for a black man?