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