Text: Billy Joel. The Stranger. Miami 2017.

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 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 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.
Seen it all the time, on Forty Second Street!

They burned the churches 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 rats lie down on Broadway.

Oh and 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 up from Norfolk,
And picked the Yankees up for free.
They said that Queens could stay,
They blew the Bronx away!
They sank Manhattan out at 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 to keep the memory alive!