I've seen the lights go out on Broadway I saw the Empire State laid low Life went on beyond the Palaces They all bought Cadillacs, and left there long ago They 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 Oh oh-oh oh-oh oh 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 Oh oh-oh-oh-oh oh I've seen lights go out on Broadway I washed the mighty skyline fall The boats were waiting at the valley 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 sailed the Queens to save, they blew the Bronx away And sank Manhattan out at sea You know those lights were bright on Broadway 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