Lyrics Welcome to the European Union - David Rovics

Welcome to the European Union

I landed in Denmark and there was Burger King
And a red and white sign saying «Coke´s the real thing»
The Titanic was sinking at the local cineplex
And the kids were chomping on corn chex
In the city center the stores were closing down
Things just haven´t been the same since the Wal-Mart came to town
In the growing suburbs folks were driving minivans
And it´s all gone according to the best-laid plans
Welcome to the European Union
It´s evolving every day
Getting more and more like the USA
Well I thumbed a ride to Hamburg, saw the homeless in the street
The mayor had to build more houses to make room for the elite
The cops were rounding up the immigrants, sending them to other places
It was plain to see the desperation on their faces
When I got to Brussels you could feel the scheming in the air
Corporate executives in suits were everywhere
And they were very happy for all the plans they made
And you could hear them chanting, «free trade free trade free trade!»
And in London men were saying, «We need more fighter planes
And we need more motorways with some exra lanes
We need Washington to teach us how an economy runs
And spend lots more money on cars and bombs and guns
When Euro-Interests are threatened we must be prepared
To invade some backward country if the United States is scared
Africa may shake and the peaceniks will glower
But what the world plainly needs is another superpower»
Once we were so proud of social democracy
Welfare for all and long vacations by the sea
But now we have seen the errors of our ways
There is no alternative, no way back to the old days
If you want a living wage, we´ll tell you where to go
As we welcome China into the WTO
Yes if you want an honest job your prospects might not look sunny
But there´s never been a better time if you´ve got lots of money
Yes in the halls of power from Athens to Par-ee
You can hear the rulers shouting «no more subsidy
So fuck off all you workers, farmers, greens and all
It´s time to turn the world into a giant shopping mall»
From Rasmussen to Shroeder, Blair to Berlusconi
It´s all the same old show, same old dog and pony
If you need me to spell it out, what´s the matter with them
It´s called C-A-P-I-T-A-L-I-S-M