Ellis Island Lyrics

On the first day of janurary, 1892

they opened Ellis Island,

and they let the people through

and the first to cross the threshold of the isle of hope and tears,

was Annie Moore from Ireland,

who was only 15 years

Chorus

isle of hope, isle of tears,

isle of freedom, isle of fears

but its not the isle you've left behind,

that isle of hunger, isle of pain,

isle you'll never see again,

but the isle of home is always on your miiiiind.

in a little bag she carried

all her past and history,

and her dreams for the future

in the land of liberty

and courage is the passport,

when your old world disappears

but theirs no future in the past when your only 15 years

Chorus

when they closed down Ellis island in 1943

17 million people

had come there for sanctury

and in the spring when i came here

and i stepped down off its piers

i thought of how it must have felt when your only

15 years

Chorus