Yakko's World (song)

Yakko's World is a song from Episode 2: Yakko's World/Cookies For Einstein/Win Big. and probably the most famous of their songs. In the song, Yakko names all (well, most) the nations of the world (in 1993), to the tune of the "Mexican Hat Dance". A clip of the sing-along version of this song has been viewed more than six million times on YouTube. To this day, Rob Paulsen, the voice of Yakko, never misses an opportunity to perform this song live, rarely without error.

The song was written by Randy Rogel, a writer from Batman: The Animated Series and Animaniacs, whose son was studying geography. When he saw that "United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama" all rhymed, he got to work on the lyrics and sent the song to Animaniacs.

The song has been referenced and parodied several times. In one episode, Yakko sings "All the Words in the English Language" to the same tune, while Dot Warner and Dick Button (playing himself) comment on his performance like an Olympic ice-skating routine. In "Cutie and the Beast", when Yakko demonstrates that he can say Dot's full name (Princess Angelina Contessa Louissa Francesca Banana Fana Bo Besca the Third) without error, she sarcastically comments, "Oh, thank you, Mr. United States Canada Mexico Panama!", which were the first four nations of the song. In The Sound of Warners, Yakko has a nightmare about flubbing the lyrics. In one episode of Pinky and the Brain, Brain asks Pinky if there is in fact anything that he does know, Pinky replies, "I know all the words to 'Yakko's World'." (Both Pinky and Yakko are voiced by Rob Paulsen.)

Lyrics

Animaniacs - Yakko's World - HIGH QUALITY-0

Announcer:

And now, the nations of the world, brought to you by Yakko Warner!

Yakko:

United States, Canada, Mexico, Panama,

Haiti, Jamaica, Peru,

Republic Dominican, Cuba, Carribbean,

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.

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.

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, then 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, Mayore, and Cayman,

Hong Kong, Abu Dhabi, Qatar, Yugoslavia...

Crete, Mauritania, then Transylviania,

Monaco, Liechtenstein, Malta, and Palestine,

Fiji, Australia, Sudan!

Trivia

• 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.
• 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).
• Greenland is not an independent nation. It is within the Danish Realm.
• Countries covered twice include Benin (Dahomey), Algeria (Algiers), Romania (Transylvania) and Puerto Rico (San Juan).
• "Mahore" is an alternative name for the French possession of Mayotte, which is part of the Comoros Islands.
• 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).
• Yugoslavia (mentioned in the coda) is now broken up into Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Macedonia, and (partially recognized) Kosovo.
• Czechoslovakia  has broken in to two separated countries Slovakia and the Czech Republic 
• Sudan have since each broken into two countries which are South Sudan and Sudan
• Also, Caribbean and Asia aren't nations; 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."
• Zaire -- which also plays an important role in "Yakko sings all the words in the English Langage" -- is now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo.
• 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.
• Korea, unlike Germany (and Yemen), is still divided between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK, or North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (RoK, or South Korea). They have yet to reunify.
• Hong Kong is and was not a nation. It was a British territory then and an autonomous region of China currently.
• Crete is only an island of Greece.
• Abu Dhabi is the capital of the United Arab Emirates, another omitted nation.
• Vatican City isn't listed in the song.
• The Marshall Islands are not listed in the song.
• Caroline Islands now know as Micronesia was not listed in the song.
• Palau which was part of the Trust Islands of the Pacific, which was not listed, is now it's own country.
• East Timor (Timor-Leste) which became independent from Indonesia in 2002 formed after this episode aired.
• Mauritius isn't listed in the song.
• South Ossetia and the Republic of Abkhazia form independent nations in 2008 after this episode was aired.
• State of Azawad declares independents from the Republic of Mali in 2012 after this episode aired.
• the Republic of Crimea, Sevastopol, & Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, become independent in 2014 after this episode aired.