Thousands Are Sailing

[Verse]
D#
The island it is silent now
        G#  
But the ghosts still

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

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


[Chorus]
Cm
Thousands are sailing
A#                  Fm
Across the Western Ocean
     Cm
To a land of opportunity
     A#                 Fm
That some of them will never see
Cm
Fortune prevailing
A#                  Fm
Across the Western Ocean
      Cm
Their bellies full

And their spirits free
        A#         
  They'll break the
           Fm
chains of poverty
            G#
And they'll dance

Instrumental: Cm A# Fm D#


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

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


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

music and we dance

Instrumental 2:
Cm A# F G# Cm A# F
Cm  D#  A#  F  Cm  D#  A#  F
Cm  Fm  Cm  G#  D#  A#  D#  A#  D#


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

with empty plates
      A#                    Fm
From guilt and weeping effigies
       G#  
And we dance to the

music and we dance

Cm A# F G# Cm A# F
Cm  Cm  D#  A#  F  Cm  D#  A#  F
Cm  Fm  Cm  G#  D#  A#  D#  A#  D#