Isle Of Hope, Isle Of Tears

On the first day of January 1892
 They opened Ellis Island and they let the people through
 And the first to cross the threshold of that isle of hope and tears
 Was Annie Moore from Ireland who was all of 15 years
 Isle of hope, isle of tears
 Isle of freedom, isle of fears
 But it's 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 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 15 years
 Isle of hope, isle of tears
 Isle of freedom, isle of fears
 But it's 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 mind
 When they closed down Ellis Island in 1943
 17 million people had come there for sanctuary
 And in springtime when I came here and I stepped onto its piers
 I thought of how it must have been when you're 15 years
 Isle of hope, isle of tears
 Isle of freedom, isle of fears
 But it's 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 mind
 Isle of hope, isle of tears
 Isle of freedom, isle of fears
 But it's 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 mind
 The isle of home is always on your mind