In fifteen eighty eight the Spanish navy came to fight
To claim the crown King Philip thought was his god-given right
Now millions of us fly to Spanish islands in the sun
The wars are long forgotten, the Armada is long gone

So sing for Europe, sing for peace, and sing to make amends
Let’s raise a glass of sangria to all our Spanish friends

The French are nearer neighbours and we fought against them too
Won victories at Agincourt, Trafalgar, Waterloo
But now we go for booze cruises and weekends of romance
Those battles are behind us, we’ve an entente now with France

So sing for Europe, sing for peace, and sing to make amends
Let’s raise a glass of fine champagne to all our Gallic friends

And then it was the Germans who became our enemy
We fought them on the beaches, in the air, at land and sea
But now there’s peace between us and the wounds of war have healed
The battles that we fight today are on the football field

So sing for Europe, sing for peace, and sing to make amends
Let’s raise a glass of Warsteiner to all our German friends

Now Europe is united and there’s no more need for war
The Berlin Wall came down, the Iron Curtain is no more
Though Britain voted for divorce, said we should stand apart
Still many of us here hold Europe fondly in our heart

So sing for Europe, sing for peace, and sing to make amends
Let’s raise a cup of tea to all our European friends

Let’s sing for Europe, sing for peace, and sing a sad farewell
To Europe and our friends there – here’s to you, we wish you well

Joe Williams is a writer from Leeds and the creator of Haiku Hole. In 2015 Joe began performing on the poetry and open mic circuit in order to inflict his work on a wider audience. Some of them claimed to enjoy it, so you can blame them for encouraging him to continue.