The island, it is silent now But the ghosts still haunt the waves 
And the torch lights up a famished man Who fortune could not save  
Did you work upon the railroad? Did you rid the streets of crime? 
Were your dollars from the White House? Were they from the Five-and-Dime?  
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you? And did they still make you cry? 
Did you count the months and years Or did your teardrops quickly dry? 
"Ah, no", says he, "it was not to be On a coffin ship I came here 
And I never even got so far That they could change my name"  
Thousands are sailing 
Across the western ocean 
To a land of opportunity 
That some of them will never see 
Fortune prevailing 
Across the western ocean 
Their bellies full Their spirits free 
They'll break the chains of poverty And they'll dance  
In Manhattan's desert twilight In the death of afternoon 
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway Like the first man on the moon  
And a blackbird broke the silence As you whistled it so sweet 
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps I danced up and down the street  
Then we said goodnight to Broadway Giving it our best regards 
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen Dear old Times Square's favourite bard  
Then we raised a glass to JFK And a dozen more besides 
When I got back to my empty room I suppose I must have cried  
Thousands are sailing 
Again across the ocean 
Where the hand of opportunity 
Draws tickets in a lottery 
Postcards we're mailing 
Of sky light skies and oceans 
From rooms the daylight never sees 
And lights don't glow on Christmas trees 
And we danced to the music And we danced  
Thousands are sailing 
Across the western ocean 
Where the hand of opportunity 
Draws tickets in a lottery 
Where e'er we go, we celebrate 
The land that makes us refugees 
From fear of priests with empty plates 
From guilt and weeping effigies 
Still we dance to the music And we dance