Written by Billy Joel)

I've seen the lights go out on Broadway,
I saw the Empire State laid low
And life went on beyond the palaces
The 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 at out

They sent a carrier out from Norfolk,
And picked the Yankees up for free
They said the Queen 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 here 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