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
"The Immigrant" was dedicated to John Lennon and the immigration problems that he faced. The single peaked at number 22 on the Billboard Hot 100 and spent one week at number one on the Easy Listening chart in May 1975.
Sedaka has referred to "The Immigrant" as his most controversial song and the only time he ever publicly waded into politics as a performer. According to Philip Cody, the song's lyric writer, it was originally written as a tribute to his father, Anthony Feliciotto, who came to America from Sicily in 1930. Sedaka's parents had also emigrated, from Russia/Poland. Lennon responded favorably, stating that Sedaka and other songwriters in his Brooklyn neighborhood were among "the greatest songwriters in the world".
