I've seen the lights go out on broadway-
I saw the empire state laid low.
And life went on beyond the palisades,
They all bought bright cadillacs-
And left there long ago.

We held a concert 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-
We'd see it all the time on forty-second 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 before....

I saw the lights go out on broadway-
I watched the mighty skyline fall.
The boats were waiting at the battery,
The union went on strike-
They never sailed at all.

They sent a carrier out from norfolk-
And picked the yankees up for free.
They said that queens could stay,
They blew the bronx away-
And sank manhattan out to sea....

You know those lights were bright on broadway-
But that was so many years ago...
Before we all lived here in florida-
Before the mafia took over mexico.
There are not many who remember-
They say a handful still survive...
To tell the world about...
The way the lights went out,
And keep the memory alive....