Thousands Are Sailing

[Verse]
F#
The island it is silent now
        B  
But the ghosts still

haunt the waves
        F#            
  And the torch lights
      D#m
up a famished man
    G#m                C#
Who fortune could not save
        F#
Did you work upon the railroad
        B
Did you rid the streets of crime
          F#       
  Were your dollars
           D#m
from the white house
     C#                      F#
Were they from the five and dime
        D#m  
Did the old songs

taunt or cheer you
           B                    F#
And did they still make you cry
        D#m
Did you count the months and years
                G#m               C#
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
    F#
Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
     B
On a coffin ship I came here
      F#          D#m
And I never even got so far
     C#                        F#
That they could change my name


[Chorus]
D#m
Thousands are sailing
C#                  G#m
Across the Western Ocean
     D#m
To a land of opportunity
     C#                 G#m
That some of them will never see
D#m
Fortune prevailing
C#                  G#m
Across the Western Ocean
      D#m
Their bellies full

And their spirits free
        C#         
  They'll break the
           G#m
chains of poverty
            B
And they'll dance

Instrumental: D#m C# G#m F#


[Verse]
F#
In Manhattan's desert twilight
       B
In the death of afternoon
           F#    
  We stepped hand
            D#m
in hand on Broadway
               G#m          C#
Like the first man on the moon
C#        F#  
And "The Blackbird"

broke the silence
       B
As you whistled it so sweet
       F#               D#m
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
            C#            F#
I danced up and down the street
        D#m
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
       B           F#
Giving it our best regards
           D#m
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
         G#m             
  Dear old Times Square's
           C#
favourite bard
C#       F#
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
      B
And a dozen more besides
       F#              D#m
When I got back to my empty room
   C#                  F#
I suppose I must have cried


[Chorus]
D#m
Thousands are sailing
C#                  G#m
Again across the ocean
          D#m
Where the hand of opportunity
      C#            G#m
Draws tickets in a lottery
D#m
Postcards we're mailing
   C#                  G#m
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
     D#m
From rooms the daylight never sees
      C#            
  Where lights don't
         G#m
glow on Christmas trees
       B  
But we dance to the

music and we dance

Instrumental 2:
D#m C# G# B D#m C# G#
D#m  F#  C#  G#  D#m  F#  C#  G#
D#m  G#m  D#m  B  F#  C#  F#  C#  F#


[Chorus]
D#m
Thousands are sailing
C#                  G#m
Again across the ocean
          D#m
Where the hand of opportunity
      C#            G#m
Draws tickets in a lottery
D#m
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
   C#                  G#m
The land that makes us refugees
     D#m  
From fear of Priests

with empty plates
      C#                    G#m
From guilt and weeping effigies
       B  
And we dance to the

music and we dance

D#m C# G# B D#m C# G#
D#m  D#m  F#  C#  G#  D#m  F#  C#  G#
D#m  G#m  D#m  B  F#  C#  F#  C#  F#