Just A Wall - David Roth

There’s a picture of a wall across the TV screen

There are people milling 'round on either side

They’ve been waiting for the border to come tumbling down

Some for years and others all their lives

The guards receive their orders and the keys are turned

Rusty gates swing slowly open wide

And long forgotten dreams and aspirations are awoken

And take to foot to reach the other side

It’s just a wall, but it’s kept them in for all this time

Just a wall, but either side is prison

Keep them in or lock them out, it’s very much the same

But now the times have changed and changing has begun

It’s just a wall and now the wall must come undone

There’s a fence between my next door neighbor’s house and mine

There are two big dogs on leashes and in chains

There are curtains pulled and doorways closed and secrets kept

And iron bars on many window panes

And these neighbors barely manage «how you doing'?

And the boundaries of the houses are clearly drawn

But there’s a thicker line that’s carried in the air and no one sees it

And there’s little can be done until it’s gone

It’s just a wall, but it’s kept us in for all this time

Just a wall, a wall of isolation

Now you see it, now you don’t, it’s very much the same

But now the times have changed and changing has begun

It’s just a wall and now the wall must come undone

There’s a picture of a wall inside the mirror

A reflection of the hostages inside

There’s a child, there’s a victim, there’s a fool and there’s a friend

And the bars are reinforced with fear and pride

But the wall I built around this heart protected me

It was constructed out of innocence and pain

And now it’s taking every ounce of strength I have to pull it down

But I’m determined that it won’t be built again

It’s just a wall, but it’s kept me in for all this time

Just a wall, but its usefulness is ended

Change the world or change the mind, it’s very much the same

Nothing changes 'til we’re changing one by one

And when we do is when the walls will come undone

Every battle will be won

Every wall will come undone