Ellis Island

[nyjm]

ellis island - noah mclaughlin

they told her not to go
the krakow streets warm and sweet
but canons blared on the hills
and she was sick of empty tills

she packed up all she had
half a bag of skirts and socks
a magazine of opera stars
and went off to the docks to board

chorus
the boat for ellis island
across a cold atlantic sea
the hope of ellis island
a promised land awaiting me

they asked her name and destination
in a tongue she did not know
but blanche was sharp and mumbled something
and leaned across to check their spelling

in endless lines the tired stench
of a thousand workless poor
the smell of hope and desperation
classic and american

in buffalo the city streets
where too much like the old ones
the canons now were factories
and there she raised her only son

and there he grew and married young
and raised two more after the war
and his daughter wandered desert sands
in reno then i was dealt the hand

chorus

[Daj Werkenhorse 1]

Ellis Island - Senza

You can see the highs and lows
and I look and wonder how,
and you can see the lights of the city
from the starboard bow

If we look around
behind us is our past,
In front of us is a sickly old man
leaning up against the mast

And here we are
Men of the land
And now we're out to sea
And waiting for us
and holding our hopes
is Lady Liberty
(X2)

Not all of us have made it
half the children are dead
But we cannot dwell on sadness,
We must forge ahead

When we finally arrive
they'll put gold into our hands
they'll give us jobs and money
and then we'll get a chance

And here we are
Men of the land
And now we're out to sea
And waiting for us
and holding our hopes
is Lady Liberty
(X2)

[j$]

by X-Tokyo River God

Black Landfill Island that weighs down the water
A half submerged kraken a shadow between us
The sea swell and darken with years of dead faces
the ghosts on the gibbet, the glare of the furnace

We will prevail if we can assail this asylum of persecuted lovers

Anchored in harbour for now and forever
This island of tears, this dead oyster coral
Black landfill body, as hot as a pistol
Hope lights the way - and it cries night and day

We will prevail if we can assail this asylum of persecuted lovers

Prepare for your journey to black Ellis Island
Prepare for your journey prepare prepare prepare

We will prevail if we can assail this asylum of persecuted lovers

(this is a cut-up of three articles I found on the internet - Ellis Island official website, a speech against terror made by George Bush at Ellis Island, and the story of an immigrant who murdered someone within hours of entering America)