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  • The Pogues

    Thousands Are Sailing

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Original lyrics

Thousands Are Sailing lyrics

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 'twas 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
And 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 "The 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 Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard
 
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
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-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance
 
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
Now we dance to the music
And we dance
 

 

Comments
BlackSea4everBlackSea4ever    Tue, 25/09/2018 - 22:13

Please fix the lyrics - Cohan to Cohen. Pretty sure this was the intended name?

BlackSea4everBlackSea4ever    Tue, 25/09/2018 - 22:24

I stand corrected - you are absolutely right!

SaintMarkSaintMark
   Wed, 26/09/2018 - 02:34

i never heard this song until a couple months ago. the sample from the intro is used in Berry Sakharof's "Raash lavan"

Ro FedermanRo Federman    Sun, 14/07/2019 - 20:18

This has been a wonderful discovery! I love Berry's music and I just bumped into this song now.