It was carnival, 1898,
when they blew up the Maine in Havana.
The young across the country, they all called for blood,
but the elders they remembered.
when they blew up the Maine in Havana.
The young across the country, they all called for blood,
but the elders they remembered.
'Cuz they'd fought a Civil War,
they'd seen the bodies piled.
They were in no rush to send young men to die.
But them yellow journalists, they got the nation riled,
and the war drums kept on a-beatin'.
they'd seen the bodies piled.
They were in no rush to send young men to die.
But them yellow journalists, they got the nation riled,
and the war drums kept on a-beatin'.
Chorus:
The world it never knew what hit,
the American century begun,
and that short, little war that they had themselves with Spain,
Old Glory never was the same,
oh, after 1898.
The world it never knew what hit,
the American century begun,
and that short, little war that they had themselves with Spain,
Old Glory never was the same,
oh, after 1898.
Well they raced the Riders down,
was Teddy at the helm,
and they set their sails for Cuba.
was Teddy at the helm,
and they set their sails for Cuba.
Was Dewey in the east,
with his white, shining fleet,
and he took them Philippines in a day.
with his white, shining fleet,
and he took them Philippines in a day.
(Chorus)
