I've seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the Em pire State laid low,
an d life went on beyond the palaces
They all bought Cadillacs
an d left there long ago
We held a con cert out in Brooklyn
To watch the island bridges
blow
They turned our power down
And drove us underground
But we went right on with the show
I've seen the lights go out on Broadway
I saw the ruins at my feet
You know we almost
didn't notice it
The city hall attack on 42nd Street
They burned the churches up in Harlem
Like in that Spanish
Civil War
The flames were everywhere
But no one really cared
It always burned up there be
fore
I seen the rats lie down on Broadway
An d I watched the mighty skyline fall
The boats were
waiting at the battery
The Union went on strike,
they never sailed it out
They sent a carrier out from Norfolk
And picked the Yan
kees up for free
They said the Queen's mistake,
they blew the Bronx away
They said Manhattan now to see
You know those lights
you ran on broke me
That was so many years ago
Be fore we all lived here in Florida
Before the mafia took over Mexico
There are not many who remember
They say a handful stays a while
To tell the world about
The way that life's went out
And keep the memory alive
You