Yakko’s World Lyrics
And now, the nations of the world, brought to you by Yakko Warner!
[Verse 1: Yakko]
United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama, Haiti, Jamaica, Peru;
Republic Dominican, Cuba, Caribbean, Greenland, El Salvador too
Puerto Rico, Colombia, Venezuela, Honduras, Guyana, and still;
Guatemala, Bolivia, then Argentina, and Ecuador, Chile, Brazil
Costa Rica, Belize, Nicaragua, Bermuda, Bahamas, Tobago, San Juan;
Paraguay, Uruguay, Suriname, and French Guiana, Barbados, and Guam
[Verse 2: Yakko]
Norway and Sweden and Iceland and Finland
And Germany now in one piece;
Switzerland, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Italy, Turkey, and Greece
Poland, Romania, Scotland, Albania, Ireland, Russia, Oman;
Bulgaria, Saudi Arabia, Hungary, Cyprus, Iraq, and Iran
There's Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, both Yemens, Kuwait, and Bahrain;
The Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, and Portugal, France, England, Denmark, and Spain
[Verse 3: Yakko]
India, Pakistan, Burma, Afghanistan, Thailand, Nepal, and Bhutan;
Kampuchea, Malaysia, then Bangladesh, Asia, and China, Korea, Japan
Mongolia, Laos, and Tibet, Indonesia, the Philippine Islands, Taiwan;
Sri Lanka, New Guinea, Sumatra, New Zealand, then Borneo, and Vietnam
Tunisia, Morocco, Uganda, Angola, Zimbabwe, Djibouti, Botswana;
Mozambique, Zambia, Swaziland, Gambia, Guinea, Algeria, Ghana
Burundi, Lesotho, and Malawi, Togo, The Spanish Sahara is gone;
Niger, Nigeria, Chad, and Liberia, Egypt, Benin, and Gabon
Tanzania, Somalia, Kenya, and Mali, Sierra Leone, and Algiers;
Dahomey, Namibia, Senegal, Libya, Cameroon, Congo, Zaire
Ethiopia, Guinea-Bissau, Madagascar, Rwanda, Maore, and Cayman;
Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Yugoslavia—
[Outro: Yakko]
Crete, Mauritania, then Transylvania—
Monaco, Liechtenstein, Malta, and Palestine, Fiji, Australia, Sudan!
About
This song was written in 1993 and is a little out of date. While it is still mostly accurate, there are some mistakes:
1) San Juan is not really a nation; it is the capital of Puerto Rico, which isn’t a nation either; it is a U.S. dependency.
2) Omitted countries include South Africa, Singapore, Cote d'Ivoire, Central African Republic, San Marino, Vatican City, various countries in Oceania (such as Samoa or Tonga), and Wales (though highlighted when England is sung).
3) Greenland is not an independent nation. It is within the Danish Realm.
4) Countries covered twice include Benin (Dahomey), Algeria (Algiers), Romania (Transylvania) and Puerto Rico (San Juan).
5) “Mahore” is an alternative name for the French possession of Mayotte, which is part of the Comoros Islands.
6) The USSR hadn’t broken up when the song was made, so it is all covered under “Russia.” This would include fourteen independent countries besides Russia (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Moldova, Ukraine, Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and Tajikistan).
7) Yugoslavia is now broken up into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and (partially recognized) Kosovo.
8) Czechoslovakia has broken into two separated countries Slovakia and the Czech Republic
9) Sudan have since each broken into two countries which are South Sudan and Sudan
10) The Caribbean and Asia aren’t nations; the Caribbean is a sea, and Asia is just a continent. The Caribbean was mentioned apparently to cover several small island countries such as St. Kitts and Nevis, St. Lucia, Grenada, Dominica, and so forth. “Asia” was undoubtedly thrown in to supply an extra two syllables and because it rhymes with “Malaysia.”
11) Zaire is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Kampuchea is now known as Cambodia.
12) Tibet is not a country; it is part of China. This error is later noticed in the “Please Please Please Get a Life Foundation” cartoon. Likewise, Transylvania is a part of Romania, and Borneo and Sumatra are large islands in the Indonesian archipelago.
13) Korea, unlike Germany (and Yemen), is still divided between North Korea and South Korea. They have yet to reunify.
14) Hong Kong is not a nation. It was a British territory then and an autonomous region of China currently.
15) Crete is only an island of Greece.
16) Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, another omitted nation.
17) The Cayman Islands is a overseas territory of the United Kingdom.
18) The full name of Tobago is ‘Trinidad and Tobago’, and it was probably shortened for syllable reasons.
19) Note that the full version still has errors.
In 2014, Randy Rogel (the composer) updated the song with a new verse, which Paulsen sang at Momocon in Atlanta:
Q&A
Find answers to frequently asked questions about the song and explore its deeper meaning
That was the first song we recorded for Animaniacs. We recorded it in one take and it’s a testament to Randy’s skill because he wrote a ton of songs for Animaniacs.
Yes.
1. Actually take time to listen to all the countries
2. Try practicing by naming some of the countries
3. Once you’re ready to take tempo faster, you can try and sing all the countries
4. If you fail, keep trying
Animaniacs is a 1990s cartoon comedy show created by Tom Ruegger. Produced by Amblin Entertainment and Warner Bros. Animation, the show stars Yakko Warner and his two siblings, Wakko and Dot, who all venture around the world.
The show draws inspiration from another Warner Bros. show, Tiny Toons Adventures. Randy Rogel is actually the person who wrote this song.
- 1.Animaniacs
- 4.What Are We?
- 6.Yakko’s World
- 8.Video Revue
- 10.I’m Mad
- 11.The Planets
- 13.I’m Cute
- 14.The Senses