Thousands Are Sailing

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

haunt the waves
        D            
  And the torch lights
      Bm
up a famished man
    Em                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
           Bm
from the white house
     A                      D
Were they from the five and dime
        Bm  
Did the old songs

taunt or cheer you
           G                    D
And did they still make you cry
        Bm
Did you count the months and years
                Em               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          Bm
And I never even got so far
     A                        D
That they could change my name


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

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

Instrumental: Bm A Em D


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

broke the silence
       G
As you whistled it so sweet
       D               Bm
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
            A            D
I danced up and down the street
        Bm
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
       G           D
Giving it our best regards
           Bm
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohan
         Em             
  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              Bm
When I got back to my empty room
   A                  D
I suppose I must have cried


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

music and we dance

Instrumental 2:
Bm A E G Bm A E
Bm  D  A  E  Bm  D  A  E
Bm  Em  Bm  G  D  A  D  A  D


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

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

music and we dance

Bm A E G Bm A E
Bm  Bm  D  A  E  Bm  D  A  E
Bm  Em  Bm  G  D  A  D  A  D