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.