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Home P Pogues Thousands Are Sailing Guitar Tab

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***Thousands Are Sailing - by Philip Chevron
from the album "If I Should Fall From Grace With God"

Thousands Are Sailing - as perfomed by The Pogues

Intro F#m E Bm A

Verse:
A
The island it is silent now
D
But the ghosts still haunt the waves
A F#m
And the torch lights up a famished man
Bm E
Who fortune could not save

E A
Did you work upon the railroad
D
Did you rid the streets of crime
A F#m
Were your dollars from the white house
E A
Were they from the five and dime
F#m
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you
D A
And did they still make you cry
F#m
Did you count the months and years
Bm E
Or did your teardrops quickly dry
A
Ah, No, says he 'twas not to be
D
On a coffin ship I came here
A F#m
And I never even got so far
E A
That they could change my mind

Chorus:
F#m
Thousands are still sailing
E Bm
Across the Western Ocean
F#m
To a land of opportunity
E Bm
That some of them will never see
F#m
Fortune prevailing
E Bm
Across the Western Ocean
F#m
Their bellies full

And their spirits free
E Bm
They'll break the chains of poverty
D F#m E B D F#m E B
And they'll dance

F#m Bm F#m D A E A E A


Verse 2
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 Cohan
Dear old Times Square's favourite bard
Then we raised a glass to J.F.K.
And a dozen more besides
When I got back to my empty room
I suppose I must have cried

Chorus 2
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

Chorus 3
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

D F#m E B /*repeat to fade*/

***Version 2*** by Kristoffer Ekman

Capo 2nd fret

Intro |Em |Em |D |Am |Em |G |D |Am |G |G ||

G C
The island it is silent now but the ghosts still haunt the waves
G Em Am D
And the torch lights up a famished man who fortune could not save
G C
Did you work upon the railroad did you rid the streets of crime
G Em D G
Were your dollars from the White House were they from the five and dime
Em C G
Did the old songs taunt or cheer you and did they still make you cry
Em Am D
Did you count the months and years or did your teardrops quickly dry
G C
Ah no says he 'twas not to be on a coffin ship I came here
G Em D G
And I never even got so far that they could change my name

Em D Am
Thousands are sailing across the Western Ocean
Em G D Am Em D Am
To a land of opportunity that some of them will never see fortune prevailing across the
Western Ocean
Em G D Am C
Their bellies full their spirits free they'll break the chains of poverty and they'll
dance

Inst 1 |Em |D |A |G |G ||

In Manhattan's desert twilight in the death of afternoon
We stepped hand in hand on Broadway like the first men 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 Cohan dear old Times Square's favourite 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
And they'll dance to the music and they'll dance

Inst 2 |Em |D |A |C |Em |D |A ||
|Em |Em |G |D A |Em |Em |G |D A ||
|Em Am|Em C|G D |G D G||

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
Now we dance to the music and we dance we dance to the music and we dance

Outro |Em |D |A |C |Em |D |A ||
|Em |Em |G |D A |Em |Em |G |D A ||
|Em Am|Em C|G D |G D G||

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Source: GuitarMasta.net
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Tab Discussion, Comments, and Critiques
 
 
No Picture

sharon
Wanna Be
#1 by sharon howell at Apr 27, 1971 at 11:29 AM EST
...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.
 
No Picture

Meaty
Average
#2 by Meaty at Feb 21, 1978 at 1:02 PM EST
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.
 
No Picture

Courtney
Wanna Be
#3 by Courtney L. at Jun 28, 1979 at 12:32 AM EST
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
 
No Picture

Katie
Wanna Be
#4 by Katie St. Michel at Jul 21, 1983 at 12:26 AM EST
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.
 
No Picture

St. Jimmy
Wanna Be
#5 by St. Jimmy at Dec 4, 1985 at 12:37 AM EST
Obviously, it's about the Irish immigration to the US. Great song.