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