Forty Years

(On the 40th anniversary of the end of World War II)

Here in Berlin - people line up to get in

To wait for the end - living in glorious sin

They've looked around - and now there is no looking back

To when rivers ran red - now it's the sky that grows black

Shadows are cast as two giants roam over the earth

We light a match - but what is that little flame worth

Once allies danced and sang

But it was forty years ago

Here in D.C. - they talk about 'Euro-disease'

And how the French are always so damn hard to please

otions are passed in Brussels but no one agrees

And no one walks tall - but no-one gets down on their knees

Once allies laughed and drank

But it was forty years ago

Where I come from

They don't like Americans much

They think they're so loud, so tasteless, and so out of touch

Stiff upper lips are curled into permanent sneers

self-satisfied

Awaiting the next forty years

Once allies cried and cheered

But it was forty years ago