Irony

“Hide your wives and daughter; hide the groceries too.
The great nations of Europe comin through.”

This is clearly irony because Randy Newman doesn’t really mean you should hide your wives and daughter because the European nations aren’t doing another run and they weren’t looking for women or groceries, they wanted gold. “the great nations of Europe” is also clearly ironic for the author means to mock the nations because they don’t disserve the title of “great”.

“Now they're gone, they're gone, they're really gone.
You never seen anyone so gone.
There's pictures in a museum, some lines written in a book
but you won't find a live one, no matter where you look”

Now this is clearly not ironic for the author really means what his saying. We know because of the repetition he uses and from prior knowledge. We really know that tribes are gone forever.

Another example of irony is

“he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say

the great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way.”

The author now uses irony for we know that it is illogic to claim massacres and torturing on religious grounds. He means to critique the reasoning given by the European nations.

  

“Hide your wives and daughter; hide the groceries too.
The great nations of Europe comin through.”

This is clearly irony because Randy Newman doesn’t really mean you should hide your wives and daughter because the European nations aren’t doing another run and they weren’t looking for women or groceries, they wanted gold. “the great nations of Europe” is also clearly ironic for the author means to mock the nations because they don’t disserve the title of “great”.

“Now they're gone, they're gone, they're really gone.
You never seen anyone so gone.
There's pictures in a museum, some lines written in a book
but you won't find a live one, no matter where you look”

Now this is clearly not ironic for the author really means what his saying. We know because of the repetition he uses and from prior knowledge. We really know that tribes are gone forever.

Another example of irony is

“he had them torn apart by dogs on religious grounds they say

the great nations of Europe were quite holy in their way.”

The author now uses irony for we know that it is illogic to claim massacres and torturing on religious grounds. He means to critique the reasoning given by the European nations.