remember this song? it was one of those songs that made me want to cry everytime i heard it

[orleans]

i haven't thought of it in years -- even when the news came out the other day about neil sedaka's passing.
lyrics below

google: Neil Sedaka’s song "The Immigrant" was released as a single in March 1975. It was featured on his 1974 album, Sedaka's Back, and was written as a tribute to John Lennon during his immigration battles. The song peaked at #22 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1975.

the immigrant 1974
Harbors opened their arms to the young searching foreigner
Come to live in the light of the beacon of liberty
Planes and open skies, billboards would advertise
Was it anything like that when you arrived
Dreamboats carry the future to the heart of America
People were waiting in line for a place by the river
It was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room that people could come from everywhere
Now he arrives with his hopes and his heart set on miracles
Come to marry his fortune with a hand full of promises
To find they've closed the door, they don't want him anymore
Isn't anymore to go around
Turning away he remembers he once heard
A legend that spoke of a mystical magical land called America
There was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they tell me the days were sweet and clear
It was a sweeter tune and there was so much room that people could come from everywhere
There was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they tell me the days were sweet and clear
There was a time when strangers were welcome here
Music would play, they tell me the days were sweet and clear
-by neil sedaka/phil cody

[sinkingfeeling]

1. A very different time.