Thousands Are Sailing

[Verse]
E
The island it is silent now
        A  
But the ghosts still

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

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


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

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

Instrumental: C#m B F#m E


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

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


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

music and we dance

Instrumental 2:
C#m B F# A C#m B F#
C#m  E  B  F#  C#m  E  B  F#
C#m  F#m  C#m  A  E  B  E  B  E


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

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

music and we dance

C#m B F# A C#m B F#
C#m  C#m  E  B  F#  C#m  E  B  F#
C#m  F#m  C#m  A  E  B  E  B  E