The boats are unsteady They rattle their sails The oars scrape the seabed like cracked fingernails Foreign flags fly Like gulls in the sky The Manhattan morning is coming to life Together we stand On an island of foreign land Built by Immigrant hands Immigrant hands Some came by will Others by force Shackled and shamed under immigrant laws And some leave by will Others are forced The immigrants laid down the streets of New York Together we stand On an island of foreign land Built by Immigrant hands Immigrant hands The trains are unsteady They rattle their rails The sun touches rooftops like a finger on braille Taxicabs fly Like bees in a hive The Manhattan morning is coming to life Together we stand On an island of foreign land Built by Immigrant hands Immigrant hands