Under the shadow of Liberty's gaze
A ship full of men, strange alien ways
Maloney arrived, he was fresh off the boat
With a head full of dreams and a rock in this throat
A hope in his heart for a brand new start
To leave the Old Country behind him
Out on the esplenade at Brooklyn Heights
With a view of the bridge and the city of lights
Maloney worked hard at making his name
So far from the docks and the furnace's flame
And the barrowman's stall and the union call
To leave the old country behind him
in the dead of the night on the Williamsburg Bridge
A meeting arranged at Canal & Eldridge
Maloney conspired with men in the cold
They spoke in a language 3,000 years old
Of the chances they'd take and the money they'd make
They would leave the old country behind them
From the edge of the Bowery to Union Square
Errands were run of a dubious air
Maloney looked sharp in his tailor-made suit
A neighbourhood hero of honest repute
Out in the sun and the snow and grit
He promised again that he'd make it legit
He thought of those days when he'd traded in schmutter
With his brains and his chutzpah he'd avoided the gutter
From ambitions to wealth, raise a glass to good health
We will leave the old country behind us
