I've seen the lights go out on Broadway,
I saw the Empire State laid low.
And life went on beyond the palaces.
They all bought Cadillacs,
Left there long ago
We held a concert out in Brooklyn.
To watch the Island bridges blow.
It 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 life end.
You know we almost didn't notice it,
We see it all the time
On 42nd street
It burned the churches up in Harlem
Like in that Spanish Civil War.
The flames were everywhere,
And no one really cared,
It always burned up there before
I've seen the rats lie down on Broadway,
And I watched the Miami skyline fall.
The folks were waving at the Battery
The union went on strike
They never settled it out.
They sent a carrier out from Norfolk,
And picked the Yankees up for free.
They said the Queens could stay
And threw the crowns away,
And sent Manhattan out to sea.
She knows those lights right on Broadway
That was so many years ago.
Before we all lived in Florida.
Before the Mafia,
Took over Mexico.
There are too many who remember.
They say a handful still survive.
To tell the world about,
The way the lights went out,
To keep the memory alive.