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