Welcome to the Renaissance

[Intro: MINSTREL]
War of the Roses, Chaucer's tales
The brutal feudal system
Holy Crusades, Bubonic Plague
Can't say that we've really missed 'em
So dark and barbaric, so dull and mundane
That was so Middle Ages, that was so Charlemagne

[Pre-Chorus 1: MINSTREL (ENSEMBLE)]
Welcome to the Renaissance
With poets, painters, and bon vivants
And merry minstrels who strolled the streets of London
Strummin' their lutes (In puffy pants and pointy leather boots)

[Chorus 1: MINSTREL (ENSEMBLE)]
Welcome to the Renaissance
Where we ooh and ahh you with ambiance
We're so progressive (The latest and the greatest)
(We bring it to you) with much ado
(Welcome to the Renaissance)
Where everything is new

[Verse 1: ENSEMBLE (MINSTREL)]
Here we've made advances in the sciences
We have the latest gadgets and appliances
Our mugs are made of pewter, our houses all are Tudor
(Decorated with a modern flair)
See us in our petticoats and farthingales
Our trendy beards we trim to look like swallowtails
We're called Elizabethans, they're all a bunch of heathens
Heathens headed straight for you-know-where

[Bridge 1: MINSTREL (ENSEMBLE)]
While witches are burning and wars tend to start
We bring you moments of culture and art
(Culture and art)

[Chorus 2: ENSEMBLE]
Welcome to the Renaissance
Where our printing press has the fancy fonts
That's right, we're fancy and very literary
Theatrical too, it's what we do
Welcome to the Renaissance
Where everything is new

[Bridge 2: ENSEMBLE (MINSTREL)]
Hey, look, it's Francis Bacon with a chicken, what's he making?
Well, I think he's found a way of freezing meat, that's new
Hey, look, it's Walter Raleigh, found a new world, by golly
And he's brought us all tobacco, what a treat, also new
(And we have a list of writers who are always writing something new)
It's true! We do! Like who? (Like who?)
(Like Dekker!) Whoo! (John Webster!) Whoo!
(Ben Jonson!) Uh-huh! And Christopher Marlowe!
Thomas Kyd, Thomas Middleton
Thomas More (And our brightest star) Whoo!
He's the bomb, the soul of the age
The wiz of the Elizabethan stage
He's incredible
Unforgettable
He's just so freakin' awesome!
Shakespeare!
Shakespeare!

[Bridge 3: ENSEMBLE]
We love him, we love him, we love him, we love him
We love him, we love him, we love him, we love him
His plays are so brilliant, his writing's first-rate
His acting's incredible, isn't he great?
We love him, we love him, (Isn't he great?) we love him, we love him
We love him, we love him, we love him

[Pre-Chorus 2: ENSEMBLE (MINSTREL)]
Welcome to the Renaissance
Not the one in Italy or in France
No, the one in England, the one where William Shakespeare
Is cream of the crop (The one where William Shakespeare is the top)

[Chorus 3: ENSEMBLE (MINSTREL)]
Welcome to the Renaissance (Renaissance)
The 16th-century experience (Experience, yeah)
In the age that's golden, the olden days are over
We bid them adieu, well, Hallelu'
Welcome to the Renaissance
Where everything is new

[Outro: ENSEMBLE (Spoken: MINSTREL)]
Everything is new
Welcome to the Renaissance
Everything is new
('Cause "Renaissance" means rebirth)