Raindrops shine like diamonds on my window
Moonlight spills like silver 'cross the floor
Ships pass in the night and where do they go?
Oh, I don't even wonder anymore
Maybe they'll sail all the way to China
Carry all my blues away
But I can't watch 'cause all I'll find there
Are the lights of San Francisco 'cross the bay
Days crawl by like death here in this prison
Late at night, the clock don't move at all
On this island, ain't nobody livin'
We're only markin' time behind these walls
There, across the water, lamps are burnin'
Dreams and born and pass away
In the darkness, I am yearnin'
For the lights of San Francisco 'cross the bay
The sun is gonna rise again tomorrow
The boats will cross again from shore to shore
Silence shattered by the tales of horror
And the footsteps of the curious once more
And a guide will tell 'em this place was a prison
That closed down long ago, but he won't say
That the ghosts of Alcatraz envy the livin'
And the lights of San Francisco 'cross the bay