The Pogues - Thousands Are Sailing Lyrics
The island it is silent nowBut the ghosts still haunt the wavesAnd the torch lights up a famished manWho fortune could not saveDid you work upon the railroadDid you rid the streets of crimeWere your dollars from the white houseWere they from the five and dimeDid the old songs taunt or cheer youAnd did they still make you cryDid you count the months and yearsOr did your teardrops quickly dryAh, no, says he, 'twas not to beOn a coffin ship I came hereAnd I never even got so farThat they could change my nameThousands are sailingAcross the western oceanTo a land of opportunityThat some of them will never seeFortune prevailingAcross the western oceanTheir bellies fullTheir spirits freeThey'll break the chains of povertyAnd they'll danceIn Manhattan's desert twilightIn the death of afternoonWe stepped hand in hand on BroadwayLike the first man on the moonAnd "The Blackbird" broke the silenceAs you whistled it so sweetAnd in Brendan Behan's footstepsI danced up and down the streetThen we said goodnight to BroadwayGiving it our best regardsTipped our hats to Mister CohanDear old Times Square's favorite bardThen we raised a glass to JFKAnd a dozen more besidesWhen I got back to my empty roomI suppose I must have criedThousands are sailingAgain across the oceanWhere the hand of opportunityDraws tickets in a lotteryPostcards we're mailingOf sky-blue skies and oceansFrom rooms the daylight never seesWhere lights don't glow on Christmas treesBut we dance to the musicAnd we danceThousands are sailingAcross the western oceanWhere the hand of opportunityDraws tickets in a lotteryWhere e'er we go, we celebrateThe land that makes us refugeesFrom fear of Priests with empty platesFrom guilt and weeping effigiesAnd we dance
