Why We Build the Wall (Anais Mitchell acoustic cover)

Hi. I wasn’t intending to do any more uploads, but did this at school with a class and thought it was worth sharing. It’s a song by Anais Mitchell from her musical theatre piece entitled ‘Hadestown’, in which a boss from the ruling classes indoctrinates his subservient minions in a call and response song. Since its inception, some of the composition’s message of ignorance towards the needy has grown in significance due to the actions of some countries towards the plight of people from other nations. The words build up in the final verse to reveal the true nature of this Orwellian tale. Why do we need a wall? We need it to block out the bad stuff and to protect the good stuff we’ve got or hope to get in the future. It alleviates the fear that our freedom to chain ourselves to ever increasing spirals of graft and debt will be taken away. Consequently, those who have the security of the wall avoid poverty, but are conditioned into accepting a cycle of rules and regulations within a miserable, unfulfilling existence of carrot and stick.