isle of hope, isle of tears

on the first day of january

eighteen ninety-two

they opened ellis island and they let

the people through. and first to cross the threshold

of that isle of hope and tears

was annie moore from ireland

who was all of fifteen years. isle of hope

isle of tears

isle of freedom

isle of fears

but it's not the isle you left behind. that isle of hunger

isle of pain

isle you'll never see again

but the isle of home is always on your mind. 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 there's no future in the past

when you're fifteen years

isle of hope

isle of tears

isle of freedom

isle of fears

but it's not the isle you left behind. that isle of hunger

isle of pain

isle you'll never see again

but the isle of home is always on your mind. when they closed down ellis island

in nineteen forty-three

seventeen million people

had come there for sanctuary. and in springtime when i came here

and i stepped onto it's piers

i thought of how it must have been

when you're fifteen years. isle of hope

isle of tears

isle of freedom

isle of fears

but it's not the isle you left behind. that isle of hunger

isle of pain

isle you'll never see again

but the isle of home is always on your mind. the isle of home is always on your mind.