The damp air carried the smell of musty cotton
And burning sugar
The red moon over the brackish dark water
Whispered danger
Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi il lupo
La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
I wonder if we should have left dear Sicily
I am steel reeds, gaskets and kidskin gusset
I'm gleaming green
Set in Circassian walnut
He crafted me with love
And I am his best shot
At getting out of the shipyards
And starting his music shop
Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi il lupo
His eyes grew nervous, his touch grew rough
I think it troubled him that no one liked our melodies much
The French swore for waltzes, the Irish jigs and reels
A choppy sort of fusion was demanded by the Creoles
He was such a brave man with eyes of amber
Thick black hair and a barrel chested swagger
But sfortunato was his hand
Even the best accordion can't save an unlucky man
La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
I wish that we had never left dear Sicily
Have you ever had to say goodbye from a distance
Knowing it was forever in one sharp instant
I slid out of his arms and crashed to the floor
As the cops burst through the party
And tore the men through the back door
Three hundred Italians were rounded up that day
As an officer was shot and an accusation was made
Some were tried, then acquitted
But a mob still insisted it was them that did it
They broke into the prison shouting "someone will pay!"
My sweet maker was among the innocent lynched that day
Oh, in bocca al lupo
Oh, crepi il lupo
La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
I wish that we had never left dear Sicily
La Merica won't you please, please won't you be
A place that loves music and the man that made me
These docks are a war zone, such ferocity
Crepi il lupo