Joe Jencks

Do you still remember, the year the famine fell
And everything you had was turned to one long living hell
So you gathered up the children, and the little that you had
And you came into this country as a stranger

I am bound away to leave you
With a suitcase in my hand
I am bound away for freedom
I’m a stranger in this land

And do you teach your children how they have come so far
From the slaughters of the Cossacks and the prisons of the Czar
Without a word of English, they bravely stepped ashore
Through the gates of Ellis Island as a stranger

Now those who flee from hunger and those who run from war
Are still struggling by the millions, to reach this country’s shore
So before you start to judge them, remember who your are
And remember that you came here as a stranger