In regards to the meaning of this song:
Before a live performance on the EP Five Stories Falling, Geoff states “It’s about the last time I went to visit my grandmother in Columbus, and I saw that she was dying and it was the last time I was going to see her. It is about realizing how young you are, but how quickly you can go.”
That’s the thing about Geoff and his sublime poetry, you think it’s about one thing, but really it’s about something entirely different. But the lyrics are still universal and omnipresent, ubiquitous, even. So relatable. That’s one thing I love about this band. I also love their live performances, raw energy and Geoff’s beautiful, imperfectly perfect vocals. His voice soothes my aching soul.
The island it is silent now
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save
Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
Ah, no, says he, 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name
Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the western ocean
Their bellies full
Their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance
In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon
And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen
Dear old Times Square's favorite bard
Then we raised a glass to JFK
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried
Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance
Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we dance
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
And the torch lights up a famished man
Who fortune could not save
Did you work upon the railroad
Did you rid the streets of crime
Were your dollars from the white house
Were they from the five and dime
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
And did they still make you cry
Did you count the months and years
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
Ah, no, says he, 'twas not to be
On a coffin ship I came here
And I never even got so far
That they could change my name
Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
To a land of opportunity
That some of them will never see
Fortune prevailing
Across the western ocean
Their bellies full
Their spirits free
They'll break the chains of poverty
And they'll dance
In Manhattan's desert twilight
In the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway
Like the first man on the moon
And "The Blackbird" broke the silence
As you whistled it so sweet
And in Brendan Behan's footsteps
I danced up and down the street
Then we said goodnight to Broadway
Giving it our best regards
Tipped our hats to Mister Cohen
Dear old Times Square's favorite bard
Then we raised a glass to JFK
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried
Thousands are sailing
Again across the ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Postcards we're mailing
Of sky-blue skies and oceans
From rooms the daylight never sees
Where lights don't glow on Christmas trees
But we dance to the music
And we dance
Thousands are sailing
Across the western ocean
Where the hand of opportunity
Draws tickets in a lottery
Where e'er we go, we celebrate
The land that makes us refugees
From fear of Priests with empty plates
From guilt and weeping effigies
And we dance
Lyrics submitted by black_cow_of_death
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...how it's been overcome??
I can't think of a song whose lyrics drive my imagination, politically, more so than this one. The first thing is that it pushes you to consider the continuities between the experiences of most disenfranchised groups coming to the States (or, to be fair, Canada), not just Irish Americans.
And it's fucking bitter - "we came looking for a better life, we were promised tolerance, an equal shake and potential prosperity, and instead met with the cold reality of immigration loteries, continuing obscurity and poverty. But dammit, we still have our culture!!" I'm sorry, but what's wonderful about this song is that it isn't yet another unthinking, let's forget our history, balls-on-the-table "I'm Irish and proud!" statement.
It's been the same thing in Canada since Trudeau introduced multiculturalism in the 1970s: you can bring your pretty dresses, exotic food, and here whisky, but leave the politics at "home"! Multiculturalism is this - giving lip service to "tolerating" difference, but at the end of the day, leaving power squarely with white middle class Canadians - the only problem being that, at a moment of crisis, that "tolerance" can be withdrawn in favour of bigotry and violence in the blink of an eye.
@muzzlehatch bang on.
the song is of course about the irish coming to america and the hope they felt during that trip and the utter rejection that happened. Being from an Irish family in Scotland I can relate to this as my own grandfather tried that trip and hoped for the better life and sadly took ill and died but it didnt ruin us, my gran took over and became the head of the family and only recently died at the age of 96. The song for me now shows the strength and determination of the Irish...the problems might be in the past but should never be forgotten..for annie boyle...top lady and amazing gran..xxxx
Mister CohAn does not refer to Leonard, it refers to George M. Cohan "The Man Who Owned Broadway". The song ties the economic migration of the late 20th Century with it's Green Card Lotteries and the post famine exodus in the mid 19th century. An excellent explanation can be found at edward.oconnor.cx/2008/03/thousands-are-sailing. It is in my opinion, one of the most beautiful & heartbreaking songs of all time. Worth noting too that after The Great Famine of 1847, the population decline in the west of Ireland only halted in 2006. 2006.
Only one Philip chevron
I’m not an immigrant. Neither were my parents or theirs. But this song has always moved me. It expresses exactly the paradox of fleeing one horrible place, finding another horrible place, but still managing to hold each in one’s heart in a place of respect and sometimes even endearment.
RIP Shane McGowan, who passed today at age 65. I know he didn’t write this one, but I went to revisit the Pogues’ catalogue just now and needed to say farewell.
Obviously, it's about the Irish immigration to the US. Great song.
coming from a family of irish immigrants, this song really means a lot to me. it's about coming to america to find a better life, the oppression they faced because of it and how it's been overcome.
A "coffin ship" was one that was so bad that the majority of the passengers died before reaching the US; i understand that sharks followed them, just as they had followed slave ships...
"...I never even got so far that they could change my name..." - many of the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island found their names changed due to their documents having been written by someone who either misheard their name, couldn't spell it, or just thought it wasn't "American" enough. (My own family's original name - two of my great-grandfathers were Bohemian immigrants - was changed, but not at Ellis Island; my great-grandfather just changed it after he'd been here a while...)
I believe (having just listened twice) that it's "...stepped hand in hand down Broadway/(With the first man on the moon..." - a parade for the astronauts.
Also, "Did you work upon the railroads" - the crews building the transcontinental railroad were mostly Chinese (on the tracks from the west coeast eastward) and Irish (on the tracks pushing west).
"Did you rid the streets of crime" - even now many bg-city police forces are predominantly Irish
"Were your dollars from the White House" - JFK, obviously
"Were they from the five-and-dime" - George Wollworth was Irish.
Yeah, umm. The narrator is talking about ellis island, the torch from lady liberty, etc. lighting the face of a ghost, who he begins questioning. The ghost explains that he died on a coffin ship, then they together go and explore the great usa blah blah. Basically it was shite in Ireland, and if they had made it the whole way, it would be shit here, but we'll dance to the music. Even after we're dead we'll dance. The absolute essence of an Irish writer right there.
Yeah, umm. The narrator is talking about ellis island, the torch from lady liberty, etc. lighting the face of a ghost, who he begins questioning. The ghost explains that he died on a coffin ship, then they together go and explore the great usa blah blah. Basically it was shite in Ireland, and if they had made it the whole way, it would be shit here, but we'll dance to the music. Even after we're dead we'll dance. The absolute essence of an Irish writer right there.