ARCHIVE://LYRICS
LYRICS
[INTRO - SYNTHETIC VOICE] IDENTIFICATION. STATUS. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN. DOCUMENTATION. [GLITCH] You asked everything... except whether they were human. [VERSE 1] They poured the concrete They harvested the fields Built the roofs above your families Cooked a million meals Raised their children in your cities Opened businesses and stores Paid the rent and paid the taxes Still you kicked against their doors You needed someone you could blame So you manufactured fear Put a uniform behind it Then you made the target clear Call them criminal Call them alien Repeat it till it's true Funny how the country needs their labor But pretends it doesn't need them too [PRE-CHORUS] I checked the numbers I checked your claims I searched the records Behind the names You sold them fear I found the proof Let the fucking numbers TELL THE TRUTH! [CHORUS] THEY BUILT THIS TOO! EVERY STREET! EVERY TOWN! YOU DON'T GET TO USE THEIR HANDS THEN TURN AROUND AND HUNT THEM DOWN! THEY BUILT THIS TOO! HEAR THE SOUND! YOU CAN BUILD A WALL BUT YOU CAN'T ERASE THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THE GROUND! NO HUMAN BEING IS CONTRABAND! [VERSE 2] Ninety-six billion Seven hundred million paid Federal, state and local taxes From the people you degrade Twenty-five billion into Social Security Six billion more Medicare Paying into systems They may never get to share So tell me who's the burden? Tell me who's refusing facts? You can scream "illegal" But the numbers scream it back [INTERLUDE - SYNTHETIC] DATABASE QUERY: SUBJECT STATUS? HUMAN. DOCUMENTATION? HUMAN. COUNTRY OF ORIGIN? HUMAN. LEGAL CLASSIFICATION? [GLITCH] I SAID— HUMAN. CLASSIFICATION INVALID. Then your system is broken. [BREAKDOWN] SYSTEM OVERRIDE! YOU DON'T NEED A FUCKING FILE TO PROVE YOU'RE HUMAN! WHO PICKS THE FOOD?! THEY DO! WHO BUILDS THE HOMES?! THEY DO! WHO PAYS THE TAX?! THEY DO! [VERSE 3] I won't tell you every border Has an easy answer waiting I won't tell you governments Don't have a right to immigration But there's a line between enforcement And teaching people hate Between administering law And putting fear behind the state A nation isn't weakened When the stranger has a name Strength was never measured By how many you could blame [FINAL CHORUS] THEY BUILT THIS TOO! EVERY STREET! EVERY TOWN! YOU DON'T GET TO TAKE THEIR LABOR THEN PRETEND THEY DON'T BELONG AROUND! THEY BUILT THIS TOO! SIDE BY SIDE! NO POLITICIAN GETS TO TEACH US WHICH HUMAN BEINGS WE SHOULD DESPISE! NO ERASURE! NO RETREAT! NO HUMAN BEING BENEATH OUR FEET! [OUTRO] You called them outsiders. But I looked through your history. Everyone came from somewhere. No human being is contraband.