| Your father sailed on the Murmansk Run
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| To guide the flocks of the ships home one by one
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| Grey beneath the Arctic sun
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| Or the glow of Northern Lights
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| I see you have his photograph
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| His eyes are watching for dangers fore or aft
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| Trading days beneath the sun
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| For the cold and wintry nights of the Murmansk run
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| He never did come home to you
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| It’s long forgotten, a childhood dream or two
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| But something of the cold got through
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| And it lingers in your eyes
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| On days like these you hear the wind
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| And feel the chill of the ice floes closing in
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| Trading days beneath the sun
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| For the cold and wintry nights of the Murmansk run
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| Save our souls, river of darkness over me
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| Save our souls, lost on the dark uncharted sea
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| Now you hide yourself from view
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| You seem to find it an easy thing to do
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| Trading days beneath the sun
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| For the cold and wintry nights of the Murmansk run
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| Save our souls, river of darkness over me
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| Save our souls, lost on the dark uncharted sea
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| Well you wake up in the morning on Hester street
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| And run to the factory, You can’t afford to be late
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| Working every morning, every evening, every day
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| For your money, Yet there’s nothing to save
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| Watching your life pass by the window
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| Feeling it all run through your hands
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| Counting the thousands behind in the lines
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| Waiting time for their chance
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| From Ellis Island, day after day
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| From Ellis Island, dreams slip away
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| Meanwhile from the market come the cries
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| Of every tongue and every nation
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| Refugeless refugees
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| Faces from the endless plains of Russia
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| Blonde Norwegian, dark Croatian
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| Songs in sad minor keys
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| Feeling the heat inside the furnace
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| Trying to make that break away
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| Reaching their hands for a grip
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| On the edge just to slip back again
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| From Ellis Island, day after day
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| From Ellis Island, dreams slip away
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| Ah well I’ve heard it said
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| If you just use your head
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| You can make your fortune here
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| One lucky break and that’s all it would take
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| But it never seems to be near
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| Another day, another ship pulls into harbor
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| And the crowd spills down the gangway
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| Clutching their suitcases tight
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| Blinking in the sunlight at the door of the new world
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| They hold the handrail
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| With all the past thrown behind
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| Caught in between now and forever
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| Wondering just what lies ahead
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| Each one is waiting and hoping
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| The door will be open to them
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| On Ellis Island, day after day
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| On Ellis Island, time slips away
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| From Ellis Island, day after day
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| From Ellis Island, dreams slip away
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| Save our souls, river of darkness over me
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| Save our souls, lost on the dark uncharted sea |