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I was driving down Ninth Avenue
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As the sky was getting dark
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Didn't have nothin' else to do
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So I kept on riding to Battery Park
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I stepped out in the damp and misty night
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As the fog was rolling in
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Man said, "Last boat leaving tonight
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Is the boat for Ellis Island"
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As my feet touched solid ground
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I felt a chill run down my spine
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I could almost hear the sound
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of thousands pushing through the lines
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Mothers and bewildered wives
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that sailed across the raging sea
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Others running for their lives
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to the land of opportunity
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Down on Ellis Island
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"What is this strange paradise?"
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They must've wondered through their cries and moans
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After all they've sacrificed
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Their faith, their families, friends and homes
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Then on the Inspection Stairs
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They were counted out or counted in
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Frozen while the inspectors stared
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Down on Ellis Island
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Now me I only stumbled in
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Just to wander around that empty hall
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Where someone else's fate had been
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Decided in no time at all
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And cases filled with hats and clothes
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And the belongings of those who journeyed far
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They're strange reminders I suppose
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Of where we're from and who we are
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But as the boat pulled off the shore
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I could see the fog was lifting
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And lights I never seen before
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Were shining down on Ellis Island
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Shining down on Ellis Island
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Ellis Island
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Marc Cohn |