Both Sides of the Wall

This track was born from a real headline: Families separated at the US-Mexico border, children held in detention facilities, parents deported while their American-born children remain, and the lasting trauma of forced separation. Muckraker's pop production gives the story the weight of a front-page exclusive — journalism you can feel in your chest. Lines like "He's seven, American-born, his mother's not the same," anchor the track in specifics that generic coverage misses. The mood — mournful — reflects the emotional reality behind the numbers. Every Majik's Studio news track exists to make you feel the story, not just read it.

[verse 1] She pressed her fingers through the metal slats and touched his hand, Her son on one side, she's on the other, neither one had planned. He's seven, American-born, his mother's not the same, She crossed to give him everything, and now she takes the blame. The processing center smells like bleach and fluorescent light, Mylar blankets on the concrete where the children sleep at night. A four-year-old is asking for her papi in the hall, The guard just says be patient—she don't understand at all. They took his shoelaces, they took his mother's ring, They filed them both as numbers, didn't ask them anything. The phone call comes at midnight, thirty minutes if you're blessed, She tells him do your homework, tells him mama loves you best. But the line goes dead before she finishes the prayer, And a boy in Texas whispers to a mother who's not there. Two thousand miles of border, two thousand miles of steel, But no wall they ever build can say how these families feel. [chorus] Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, Love don't need a visa but they're breaking us in half. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, One hand reaching through, they can't tear apart what we have. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, A family's not a crime, hear our children's cry, hear them call. [verse 2] The foster home is quiet and the bed is not his own, He keeps the photograph she gave him, crumpled, water-blown. His teacher says he's acting out, won't focus, barely speaks, A psychologist was scheduled but the waitlist's sixteen weeks. Meanwhile his mother's in Juárez in a shelter made of tin, Sending money that she doesn't have to keep his schoolbooks in. She was a baker on the south side, every neighbor knew her bread, Now she's begging at the consulate for any word they've said. The lawyer says asylum cases, backed up seven years, Seven birthdays, seven Christmases, seven years of tears. And the boy draws pictures every night, a house, a sun, a door, His mama standing on the porch like she was there before. They say the wall protects us, say it keeps us safe inside, But the only thing it's keeping is a mother from her child. So I'll sing it from the rooftop, I'll sing it cross the land, Till every wall comes down and every child can hold a hand. [chorus] Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, Love don't need a visa but they're breaking us in half. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, One hand reaching through, they can't tear apart what we have. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, A family's not a crime, hear our children's cry, hear them call. [bridge] I've seen the photographs they drew in detention with a crayon, A yellow sun, a green house, a family they keep praying on. I've heard the recordings of the children crying in the cells, And every politician should be haunted by those yells. Because policy is just a word until it breaks a home, And a child without a mother is a child that's all alone. [chorus] Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, Love don't need a visa but they're breaking us in half. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, One hand reaching through, they can't tear apart what we have. Both sides of the wall, both sides of the wall, A family's not a crime, hear our children's cry, hear them call. [outro] Both sides of the wall... both sides of the wall... Reach through the steel and hold on, hold on, don't let go. Both sides of the wall... both sides of the wall... Someday these walls come down and the whole world will know.