The Call – The Walls Came Down

The Call is an American rock band formed in Santa Cruz, California, in 1980. The main lineup consisted of members Michael Been, Scott Musick, Tom Ferrier, and Jim Goodwin. The band released nine studio albums over the next two decades before disbanding in 2000.

Inspired by the Cold War, the US invasion of Grenada and the Lebanese Civil War, ‘The Walls Came Down’ is a cynical take on geopolitics. The Call recorded ‘The Walls Came Down’ for their second album, Modern Romans, a record notable for its political content. "There was a great deal happening politically - Grenada, Lebanon, or the government saying the Russians are evil and the Russian government probably saying the same about us," the group's lead singer Michael Been later said. "That kind of thinking inspired me to write the last lines of 'Walls Came Down.'"

Michael Been passed away from a heart attack in 2010. A Christian, he sometimes incorporated biblical references into his lyrics. Here, Been interjects the imagery of the Israelites led by Joshua during their siege of Jericho, as recorded in Joshua chapter 6. On the seventh day of the siege, the priests blew their trumpets made of ram horns, the people shouted, and Jericho's wall fell, enabling the Israelites to destroy the city. Garth Hudson of The Band played keyboards on this song along with the other Modern Romans tracks. ‘The Walls Came Down’ reached #74 on the Hot 100. The Call's only other Hot 100 hit came six years later when ‘Let The Day Begin’ peaked at #51.

Simple Minds covered ‘The Walls Came Down’ for their 2022 Direction of the Heart album. Their frontman, Jim Kerr, told The Sun, "We toured with The Call a few times in the States and even though they were opening for us, we looked up to them especially the singer Michael Been. Michael passed away about a decade ago, but we covered a few of his songs. I remember the Berlin Wall coming down thinking that was the end of walls, but the last few years have all been about walls and divisions, frontiers, and borders. So that song has really found its time again."

Label – Mercury
Songwriter – Michael Been
Producers – Michael Been, The Call

SONG LYRICS

Well, they blew the horns
And the walls came down
They'd all been warned
And the walls came down
 
They stood there laughing
They're not laughing anymore
The walls came down
Down..
 
Sanctuary fades, congregation splits
Nightly military raids, the congregation splits
It's a song of assassins, ringin' in your ears
We got terrorist thinking, playing on fears
 
[Instrumental break]
Oh
 
Well, they blew the horns
The walls came down
They'd all been warned
But the walls came down
 
I don't think there are any Russians
And there ain't no Yanks
Just corporate criminals
Playin' with tanks
 
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Yes, come on
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Come on, come on, come on
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Wake up
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Go, yeah
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Woo! Woo!
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Ya ya ya ya ya ya
Come on, come on, come on, come on
Ya ya ya ya ya ya...