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 Cadillac's
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